Gaussian Hypergeometric Probability Distributions for Fitting Discrete Data

The distributions generated by the Gaussian hypergeometric function compose a tetraparametric family that includes many of the most common discrete distributions in the literature. In this article, probability aspects related to the whole family are reviewed and methods of estimation for fitting them to real data are developed. Several applied examples are also provided to illustrate the procedures and compare the methods of estimation.     

On an Extended Version of Skew Generalized Normal Distribution and Some of its Properties

Abstract

A generalization of Chauvenet's test (see Bol'shev, L. N. 1969 Bol'shev, L. N. 1969. On tests for rejecting outlying observations. Trudy In-ta prikladnoi Mat. Tblissi Gosudart. univ., 2: 159–177. (In Russian) [Google Scholar]. On tests for rejecting outlying observations. Trudy In-ta prikladnoi Mat. Tblissi Gosudart. univ. 2:159–177. (In Russian); Voinov, V. G., Nikulin, M. N. 1996 Voinov, V. G. and Nikulin, M. N. 1996. Unbaised Estimators and Their Applications Vol. 2, Kluwer Academic Publishers.  [Google Scholar]. Unbaised Estimators and Their Applications. Vol. 2. Kluwer Academic Publishers.) suitable to applied the problem of detecting r outliers in an univariate data set is proposed. In the exponential case, the Chauvenet's test can be used. Various modifications of this test were considered by Bol'shev, Ibrakimov and Khalfina (Ibrakimov, I. A., Khalfina 1978 Ibrakimov, I. A. and Khalfina. 1978. Some asymptotic results concerning the Chauvenet test. Ter. Veroyatnost. i Primenen., 23(3): 593–597.  [Google Scholar]. Some asymptotic results concerning the Chauvenet test. Ter. Veroyatnost. i Primenen. 23(3):593–597.), Greenwood and Nikulin (Greenwood, Nikulin, P. E. 1996 Greenwood and Nikulin, P. E. 1996. A Guide to Chi-Squared Testing New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc..  [Google Scholar]. A Guide to Chi-Squared Testing. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.) depending on the choice of the estimation method used: MLE or MVUE. As procedures for testing one outlier in exponential model have been investigated by a number of authors including Chikkagoudar and Kunchur (Chikkagoudar, M. S., Kunchur, S. H. 1983 Chikkagoudar, M. S. and Kunchur, S. H. 1983. Distribution of test statistics for multiple outliers in exponential samples. Comm. Stat. Theory. and Meth., 12: 2127–2142. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Distribution of test statistics for multiple outliers in exponential samples. Comm. Stat. Theory. and Meth. 12:2127–2142.), Lewis and Fieller (Lewis, T., Fiellerm N. R. J. 1979 Lewis, T. and Fiellerm, N. R. J. 1979. A recursive algorithm for null distribution for outliers: I. Gamma samples. Technometrics, 21: 371–376. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. A recursive algorithm for null distribution for outliers : I. Gamma samples. Technometrics 21:371–376.), Likes (Likes, J. 1966 Likes, J. 1966. Distribution of Dixon's statistics in the case of an exponential population. Metrika, 11: 46–54. (91, 96, 136, 198–200, 204, 209, 210)[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. Distribution of Dixon's statistics in the case of an exponential population. Metrika 11:46–54. (91, 96, 136, 198–200, 204, 209, 210).) and Kabe (Kabe, D. G. 1970 Kabe, D. G. 1970. Testing outliers from an exponential population. Metrika, 15: 15–18. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Testing outliers from an exponential population. Metrika 15:15–18.); only two types of statistics for testing multiple outliers exist. First is Dixon's while the second is based on the ratio of the sum of the observations suspected to be outliers to the sum of all observations of the sample. In fact, most of these authors have considered a general case of gamma model and the results for exponential model are given a special case. The object of the present communication is to focus on alternative models, namely slippage alternatives (see Barnett, Vic., Toby Lewis 1978 Barnett, Vic. and Toby, Lewis. 1978. Outlier in Statistical Data New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc..  [Google Scholar]. Outlier in Statistical Data. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.) in exponential samples. We propose a statistic different from the well known Dixon's statistic D_r to test for multiple outliers. Distribution of the test based on this new statistic under slippage alternatives is obtained and hence the tables of critical values are given, for various n (size of the sample) and r (the number of outliers). The power of the new test is also calculated, it is compared to the power of the Dixon's statistic (Chikkagoudar, M. S., Kunchur, S. H. 1983 Chikkagoudar, M. S. and Kunchur, S. H. 1983. Distribution of test statistics for multiple outliers in exponential samples. Comm. Stat. Theory. and Meth., 12: 2127–2142. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Distribution of test statistics for multiple outliers in exponential samples. Comm. Stat. Theory. and Meth. 12:2127–2142.). Notice that the new statistic based test power is greater the Dixon's statistic based test one.     

On the Sampling Distributions of the Estimated Process Loss Indices with Asymmetric Tolerances

The inverse Gaussian distribution provides a flexible model for analyzing positive, right-skewed data. The generalized variable test for equality of several inverse Gaussian means with unknown and arbitrary variances has satisfactory Type-I error rate when the number of samples (k) is small (Tian, 2006). However, the Type-I error rate tends to be inflated when k goes up. In this article, we propose a parametric bootstrap (PB) approach for this problem. Simulation results show that the proposed test performs very satisfactorily regardless of the number of samples and sample sizes. This method is illustrated by an example.     

A generalization for two-sided power distributions and adjusted method of moments

A new rich class of generalized two-sided power (TSP) distributions, where their density functions are expressed in terms of the Gauss hypergeometric functions, is introduced and studied. In this class, the symmetric distributions are supported by finite intervals and have normal shape densities. Our study on TSP distributions also leads us to a new class of discrete distributions on {0, 1, …, k}. In addition, a new numerical method for parameter estimation using moments is given.     

Characteristic function of the SGT distribution

An explicit closed form is derived for the characteristic function for the skew generalized t distribution studied by Arslan and Genç [The skew generalized t (SGT) distribution as the scale mixture of a skew exponential power distribution and its applications in robust estimation, Statistics 43(5) (2009), pp. 481–498]. The expression involves the Wright generalized hypergeometric Ψ–function.     

Censored Exponential Data: Large Deviations for MLEs and Posterior Distributions

In this article, we consider several statistical models for censored exponential data. We prove a large deviation result for the maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) of each model, and a unique result for the posterior distributions which works well for all the cases. Finally, comparing the large deviation rate functions for MLEs and posterior distributions, we show that a typical feature fails for one model; moreover, we illustrate the relation between this fact and a well-known result for curved exponential models.     

Some New Discrete Probability Distributions Derived from Power Series Distributions

Power series distributions (PSD) are well documented in the literature. Some of the well-known theoretical models in statistics, like Poisson, negative binomial, and geometric, belong to this family. Many real-life phenomena are represented by these models. Based on these models, some new probability distributions are obtained in this paper. By means of examples it is demonstrated that the derived distributions fit the situations better than the existing models.     

Test of Normality Against Generalized Exponential Power Alternatives

The family of symmetric generalized exponential power (GEP) densities offers a wide range of tail behaviors, which may be exponential, polynomial, and/or logarithmic. In this article, a test of normality based on Rao's score statistic and this family of GEP alternatives is proposed. This test is tailored to detect departures from normality in the tails of the distribution. The main interest of this approach is that it provides a test with a large family of symmetric alternatives having non-normal tails. In addition, the test's statistic consists of a combination of three quantities that can be interpreted as new measures of tail thickness. In a Monte-Carlo simulation study, the proposed test is shown to perform well in terms of power when compared to its competitors.     

Fiducial and Confidence Distributions for Real Exponential Families

We develop an easy and direct way to define and compute the fiducial distribution of a real parameter for both continuous and discrete exponential families. Furthermore, such a distribution satisfies the requirements to be considered a confidence distribution. Many examples are provided for models, which, although very simple, are widely used in applications. A characterization of the families for which the fiducial distribution coincides with a Bayesian posterior is given, and the strict connection with Jeffreys prior is shown. Asymptotic expansions of fiducial distributions are obtained without any further assumptions, and again, the relationship with the objective Bayesian analysis is pointed out. Finally, using the Edgeworth expansions, we compare the coverage of the fiducial intervals with that of other common intervals, proving the good behaviour of the former.     

A Bayesian Test for the Mean of the Power Exponential Distribution

In this article, we deal with the problem of testing a point null hypothesis for the mean of a multivariate power exponential distribution. We study the conditions under which Bayesian and frequentist approaches can match. In this comparison it is observed that the tails of the model are the key to explain the reconciliability or irreconciliability between the two approaches.     

Likelihood ratio test for testing equality of location parameters of two exponential distributions from doubly censored samples

The Likelihood Ratio (LR) test for testing equality of two exponential distributions with common unknown scale parameter is obtained. Samples are assumed to be drawn under a type II doubly censored sampling scheme. Effects of left and right censoring on the power of the test are studied. Further, the performance of the LR test is compared with the Tiku(1981) test.     

On the robustness of the power function of the one-sample test for the negative exponential distribution

The robustness of the power function of the standard one-sample parametric test for the mean of the negative exponential distribution is examined. The main form of departure from the exponential assumption is a mixture of negative exponential components although an alternative Gamma distribution is also examined. It is found that the test is sensitive to these departures although the effect of mixtures with short tails is less dramatic than those with long tails.     

On the Characterization of a Mixture of Generalized Power Function Distributions by Conditional Expectation of Order Statistics

In the present article, we give some theorems to characterize the mixture of two generalized power function distributions based on conditional expectation of order statistics.     

Empirical Bayes Confidence Intervals for Means of Natural Exponential Family-Quadratic Variance Function Distributions with Application to Small Area Estimation

Abstract.  The paper develops empirical Bayes (EB) confidence intervals for population means with distributions belonging to the natural exponential family-quadratic variance function (NEF-QVF) family when the sample size for a particular population is moderate or large. The basis for such development is to find an interval centred around the posterior mean which meets the target coverage probability asymptotically, and then show that the difference between the coverage probabilities of the Bayes and EB intervals is negligible up to a certain order. The approach taken is Edgeworth expansion so that the sample sizes from the different populations need not be significantly large. The proposed intervals meet the target coverage probabilities asymptotically, and are easy to construct. We illustrate use of these intervals in the context of small area estimation both through real and simulated data. The proposed intervals are different from the bootstrap intervals. The latter can be applied quite generally, but the order of accuracy of these intervals in meeting the desired coverage probability is unknown.     

A Family Which Integrates the Generalized Charlier Series and Extended Noncentral Negative Binomial Distributions

The generalized Charlier series distribution includes the binomial distribution, and the noncentral negative binomial distribution extends the negative binomial distribution. The present article proposes a family of counting distributions, which contains both the generalized Charlier series and extended noncentral negative binomial distributions. Compound and mixture formulations of the proposed distribution are given. The probability mass function is expressible in terms of the confluent hypergeometric function as well as the Gauss hypergeometric function. Recursive formulae for probability mass function have been studied by Panjer, Sundt and Jewell, Schröter, Sundt, and Kitano et al. in the context of insurance risk. This article explores horizontal, vertical, triangular, and diagonal recursions. Recursive formulae as well as exact expressions for descending factorial moments are studied. The proposed distribution allows overdispersion or underdispersion relative to a Poisson distribution. An illustrative example of data fitting is given.     

On Unbiased Estimation of Positive Integral Powers of the Natural Parameter in Exponential Families

We explore the structure of one‐parameter exponential families admitting an unbiased estimator for a positive integral power of the natural parameter. It is seen that only exponential families dominated by Lebesgue measure can have this property. It is outlined that similar results can be obtained for other functions of the natural parameter.     

Minimax Estimation of the Bounded Parameter of Some Discrete Distributions Under LINEX Loss Function

For a class of discrete distributions, including Poisson(θ), Generalized Poisson(θ), Borel(m, θ), etc., we consider minimax estimation of the parameter θ under the assumption it lies in a bounded interval of the form [0, m] and a LINEX loss function. Explicit conditions for the minimax estimator to be Bayes with respect to a boundary supported prior are given. Also for Bernoulli(θ)-distribution, which is not in the mentioned class of discrete distributions, we give conditions for which the Bayes estimator of θ ∈ [0, m], m < 1 with respect to a boundary supported prior is minimax under LINEX loss function. Numerical values are given for the largest values of m for which the corresponding Bayes estimators of θ are minimax.     

On Unimodal Regression in the Exponential Family

In this article, we discuss statistical methods for curve-estimation under the assumption of unimodality for variables with distributions belonging to the two-parameter exponential family with known or constant dispersion parameter. An important special case is a one-parameter distribution. We suggest a nonparametric method based on monotonicity properties. The method is applied to Swedish data on laboratory verified diagnoses of influenza and data on inflation from an episode of hyperinflation in Bulgaria.