On the estimation of the parameters of the von mises distribution

The usual maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters of the von Mises distribution are shown to perform badly in small samples. In view of this and the fact that these estimators require a large amount of computation, alternative, simpler estimators are proposed. It is shown that these estimators are at least comparable to the traditional estimators and are, in many cases, superior to them. We also apply the procedure of jackknifing to the maximum likelihood estimator of the concentration parameter of the von Mises distribution and compare the properties of the jackknifed estimator with the other estimators considered in this paper.     

On the efficiency property of the linear estimators in the bivariate pearson type vii distribution

In this paper the efficiency property of the estimators of the parameters of the bivariate Pearson type VII distribution is studied inside the family of linear estimators, assuming that the sample is constituted by dependent random vectors. It is proven that, although there are not efficient linear estimators, the sample mean and the sample covariance matrix (affected by an unbiasedness weighting) are unbiased linear estimators of minimum distance to the Cramér-Rao lower bound. Finally, a numerical simulation example shows that the proposed estimators are computationally feasible.     

Separate Ratio Estimators for the Population Variance in Stratified Random Sampling

We propose separate ratio estimators for population variance in stratified random sampling. We obtain mean square error equations and compare proposed estimators about efficiency with each other. By these comparisons, we find the conditions which make proposed estimators more efficient than others. It has been shown that proposed classes of estimators are more efficient than usual unbiased estimator. We find that separate ratio estimators are more efficient than combined ratio estimators for population variance. The theoretical results are supported by a numerical illustration with original data. A simulation study is also carried out to investigate empirical performance of estimators.     

A New Estimation Method Based on Order Statistics in the Families of Symmetric Location-scale Distributions

In this study, new unbiased and nonlinear estimators based on order statistics are proposed for the family of symmetric location-scale distributions and these estimators can be computed from both uncensored and symmetric doubly Type II censored samples. In addition, other relevant unbiased estimators are proposed to estimate standard deviations of these new estimators. A simulation study has been performed to evaluate the performance of the new estimators compared to BLU estimators for small sample sizes. As a result of the simulation study, the new estimators proposed for the location-scale family in general performed nearly as good as BLU estimators. Furthermore, the computational advantage of the proposed estimators over BLU and ML estimators are worthy of notice. In addition, these new estimators have been applied to real data, and the estimation results obtained have been compatible with those of BLUE methods.     

The combined dynamically weighted modified maximum likelihood estimators of the location and scale parameters

In this study, two new types of estimators of the location and scale parameters are proposed having high efficiency and robustness; the dynamically weighted modified maximum likelihood (DWMML) and the combined dynamically weighted modified maximum likelihood (CDWMML) estimators. Three pairs of the DWMML and two pairs of the CDWMML estimators of the location and scale parameters are produced, namely, the DWMML1, the DWMML2 and the DWMML3, and the CDWMML1 and the CDWMML2 estimators, respectively. Based on the simulation results, the DWMML1 estimators of the location and scale parameters are almost fully efficient (under normality) and robust at the same time. The DWMML3 estimators are asymptotically fully efficient and more robust than the M-estimators. The DWMML2 estimators are a compromise between efficiency and robustness. The CDWMML1 and CDWMML2 estimators are jointly very efficient and robust. Particularly, the CDWMML1 and CDWMML2 estimators of the scale parameter are superior compared to the other estimators of the scale parameter.     

Reliability estimation for the exponential distribution

This paper is concerned with classical statistical estimation of the reliability function for the exponential density with unknown mean failure time θ, and with a known and fixed mission time τ. The minimum variance unbiased (MVU) estimator and the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator are reviewed and their mean square errors compared for different sample sizes. These comparisons serve also to extend previous work, and reinforce further the nonexistence of a uniformly best estimator. A class of shrunken estimators is then defined, and it produces a shrunken quasi-estimator and a shrunken estimator. The mean square errors for both these estimators are compared to the mean square errors of the MVU and ML estimators, and the new estimators are found to perform very well. Unfortunately, these estimators are difficult to compute for practical applications. A second class of estimators, which is easy to compute is also developed. Its mean square error properties are compared to the other estimators, and it outperforms all the contending estimators over the high and low reliability parameter space. Since, for all the estimators, analytical mean square error comparisons are not tractable, extensive numerical analyses are done in obtaining both the exact small sample and large sample results.     

On the Local Polynomial Estimators of the Counting Process Intensity Function and its Derivatives

Abstract. We consider the properties of the local polynomial estimators of a counting process intensity function and its derivatives. By expressing the local polynomial estimators in a kernel smoothing form via effective kernels, we show that the bias and variance of the estimators at boundary points are of the same magnitude as at interior points and therefore the local polynomial estimators in the context of intensity estimation also enjoy the automatic boundary correction property as they do in other contexts such as regression. The asymptotically optimal bandwidths and optimal kernel functions are obtained through the asymptotic expressions of the mean square error of the estimators. For practical purpose, we suggest an effective and easy‐to‐calculate data‐driven bandwidth selector. Simulation studies are carried out to assess the performance of the local polynomial estimators and the proposed bandwidth selector. The estimators and the bandwidth selector are applied to estimate the rate of aftershocks of the Sichuan earthquake and the rate of the Personal Emergency Link calls in Hong Kong.     

稳健统计以及几种统计量的稳健性比较分析

稳健统计作为统计学的一个较为活跃的研究领域,是对传统统计方法的完善和补充。其中最为简单和通俗易懂的是统计量的稳健性。本文对几种常用的统计量进行深入地剖析,进而揭示其稳健性的不足。同时给出几种稳健统计量,并与传统的统计量进行比较。通过比较来展现稳健统计量的优势及其应用价值。     

关于均匀分布统计分析的一些思考

对于均匀分布给出了在全样本场合下参数的区间估计,在定数截尾场合下参数的点估计和区间估计,并通过大量Monte-Carlo模拟从均方差的角度比较各种点估计的优劣,考察各种区间估计方法的精度,通过实例说明这些点估计和区间估计方法的应用。     

Estimating the population mean in the case of missing data using simple random sampling

In this paper, we suggest three new ratio estimators of the population mean using quartiles of the auxiliary variable when there are missing data from the sample units. The suggested estimators are investigated under the simple random sampling method. We obtain the mean square errors equations for these estimators. The suggested estimators are compared with the sample mean and ratio estimators in the case of missing data. Also, they are compared with estimators in Singh and Horn [Compromised imputation in survey sampling, Metrika 51 (2000), pp. 267–276], Singh and Deo [Imputation by power transformation, Statist. Papers 45 (2003), pp. 555–579], and Kadilar and Cingi [Estimators for the population mean in the case of missing data, Commun. Stat.-Theory Methods, 37 (2008), pp. 2226–2236] and present under which conditions the proposed estimators are more efficient than other estimators. In terms of accuracy and of the coverage of the bootstrap confidence intervals, the suggested estimators performed better than other estimators.     

Estimation of the Mean and Standard Deviation of the Logistic Distribution Based on Multiply Type-II Censored Samples

In this paper, we discuss the problem of estimating the mean and standard deviation of a logistic population based on multiply Type-II censored samples. First, we discuss the best linear unbiased estimation and the maximum likelihood estimation methods. Next, by appropriately approximating the likelihood equations we derive approximate maximum likelihood estimators for the two parameters and show that these estimators are quite useful as they do not need the construction of any special tables (as required for the best linear unbiased estimators) and are explicit estimators (unlike the maximum likelihood estimators which need to be determined by numerical methods). We show that these estimators are also quite efficient, and derive the asymptotic variances and covariance of the estimators. Finally, we present an example to illustrate the methods of estimation discussed in this paper.     

On the nonparametric smooth estimation of the reversed Hazard Rate function

The Reversed Hazard Rate (RHR) function is an important measure as a tool in the analysis of the reliability of both natural and man-made systems. In this paper, we present several new estimators of the RHR function using nonparametric techniques. These estimators are obtained by incorporating different binning techniques with fixed design local polynomial regression. We show that these estimators are asymptotically unbiased and consistent and, to determine the bandwidth, we propose two simple yet efficient plug-in bandwidth selection methods for even and odd order local polynomial estimators. Simulated and real life data are subsequently used to evaluate the performances of these estimators.     

Bayes estimators in the presence of a guess value

The paper deals with the problem of parameter estimation in the presence of a guess value and attempts to justify the use of Bayes estimators as an alternative to ordinary shrinkage estimators. Finally, certain Bayes estimators of exponential parameters are obtained under type II censoring, and these are compared with the corresponding MLEs and ordinary shrinkage estimators using a Monte Carlo study.     

Estimation of the parameters of the gamma distribution by means of a maximal invariant

The use of a scale invariance criterion allows estimation of the shape parameter of the two parameter gamma distribution without estimating the scale parameter. Simulation experiments are used to show that the resulting estimators of both parameters are better than the usual maximum likelihood estimators in terms of both bias and mean square error. Approximately unbiased versions of the maximal invariant based estimators are derived and are shown to be as good as approximately unbiased versions of the usual maximum likelihood estimators     

Asymptotically Unbiased Estimation of the Coefficient of Tail Dependence

Abstract. We introduce and study a class of weighted functional estimators for the coefficient of tail dependence in bivariate extreme value statistics. Asymptotic normality of these estimators is established under a second‐order condition on the joint tail behaviour, some conditions on the weight function and for appropriately chosen sequences of intermediate order statistics. Asymptotically unbiased estimators are constructed by judiciously chosen linear combinations of weighted functional estimators, and variance optimality within this class of asymptotically unbiased estimators is discussed. The finite sample performance of some specific examples from our class of estimators and some alternatives from the recent literature are evaluated with a small simulation experiment.     

Design considerations for stratified finite populations using the linear least-squares prediction approach

This paper presents results concerning the implementation of two estimators for the total of a finite populations each of which is optimal under either and additive are purely interaction model. Assumptions under which the estimators are derived, some mathematical properties of the estimators, and tables which compare the estimators and give optimal allocation rules as a function of relevant parameters are given.     

Moments of the poly-Cauchy density with applications in estimation

Summary Simple mathematical formulae for the mean and variance of a poly-Cauchy density (proportional to a product of two Cauchy densities) are derived here and then applied to obtain Bayesian estimators for the mean of a normal population and the difference between means of two normal populations. The proposed estimators are arguably superior to the traditional estimators and to the usual Bayesian estimators, and may be highly robust.     

Relative squared error prediction in the generalized linear regression model

In linear regression models, predictors based on least squares or on generalized least squares estimators are usually applied which, however, fail in case of multicollinearity. As an alternative biased estimators like ridge estimators, Kuks-Olman estimators, Bayes or minimax estimators are sometimes suggested. In our analysis the relative instead of the generally used absolute squared error enters the objective function. An explicit minimax solution is derived which, in an important special case, can be viewed as a predictor based on a Kuks-Olman estimator.     

Near universal consistency of the maximum pseudolikelihood estimator for discrete models

Maximum pseudolikelihood (MPL) estimators are useful alternatives to maximum likelihood (ML) estimators when likelihood functions are more difficult to manipulate than their marginal and conditional components. Furthermore, MPL estimators subsume a large number of estimation techniques including ML estimators, maximum composite marginal likelihood estimators, and maximum pairwise likelihood estimators. When considering only the estimation of discrete models (on a possibly countably infinite support), we show that a simple finiteness assumption on an entropy-based measure is sufficient for assessing the consistency of the MPL estimator. As a consequence, we demonstrate that the MPL estimator of any discrete model on a bounded support will be consistent. Our result is valid in parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric settings.     

Estimators for the inverse powers of a normal mean

Given a sample from a normal population unbiased estimators are obtained for positive powers of the mean and estimators of almost exponentially small bias are obtained for negative powers of the mean. Simulation studies show superior performance of these estimators versus known ones.