Prediction bands for the EDF of a future sample

We develop both nonparametric and parametric methods for obtaining prediction bands for the empirical distribution function (EDF) of a future sample. These methods yield simultaneous prediction intervals for all order statistics of the future sample, and they also correspond to tests for the two-sample problem. The nonparametric prediction bands correspond to the two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and related nonparametric tests, but the parametric prediction bands correspond to entirely new parametric two-sample tests. The parametric prediction bands tend to outperform the nonparametric bands when the parametric assumptions hold, but they may have true coverage probabilities well below their nominal levels when the parametric assumptions fail. A new computational algorithm is used to obtain critical values in the nonparametric case.     

A simple nonparametric test for bivariate symmetry about a line

Over the years many researchers have dealt with testing the hypotheses of symmetry in univariate and multivariate distributions in the parametric and nonparametric setup. In a multivariate setup, there are several formulations of symmetry, for example, symmetry about an axis, joint symmetry, marginal symmetry, radial symmetry, symmetry about a known point, spherical symmetry, and elliptical symmetry among others. In this paper, for the bivariate case, we formulate a concept of symmetry about a straight line passing through the origin in a plane and accordingly develop a simple nonparametric test for testing the hypothesis of symmetry about a straight line. The proposed test is based on a measure of deviance between observed counts of bivariate samples in suitably defined pairs of sets. The exact null distribution and non-null distribution, for specified classes of alternatives, of the test statistics are obtained. The null distribution is tabulated for sample size from n=5 up to n=30. The null mean, null variance and the asymptotic null distributions of the proposed test statistics are also obtained. The empirical power of the proposed test is evaluated by simulating samples from the suitable class of bivariate distributions. The empirical findings suggest that the test performs reasonably well against various classes of asymmetric bivariate distributions. Further, it is advocated that the basic idea developed in this work can be easily adopted to test the hypotheses of exchangeability of bivariate random variables and also bivariate symmetry about a given axis which have been considered by several authors in the past.     

Distribution-free partially sequential piacment procedures

The concept of a partially sequential hypothesis test was introduced by Wolfe (1977a), an{associated procedures were developed for both parametric and nonparametric assumptions. In this paper we consider distribution-free extensions of those indicator tests, based on the placements of the sequentially obtained observations among the previously collected fixed size sample. Exact and asymptotic, as the fixed sample size in¬creases to infinity, properties of these sequential placements procedures are obtained, including statements about the power and expected number of sequentially obtained observations. The results of a Monte Carlo study are used to differentiate be¬tween various placement scoring schemes.     

Nenparametric Two-Group Classification: Concepts and a SAS-Based Software Package

This article introduces BestClass, a set of SAS macros, available in the mainframe and workstation environment, designed for solving two-group classification problems using a class of recently developed nonparametric classification methods. The criteria used to estimate the classification function are based on either minimizing a function of the absolute deviations from the surface which separates the groups, or directly minimizing a function of the number of misclassified entities in the training sample. The solution techniques used by BestClass to estimate the classification rule use the mathematical programming routines of the SAS/OR software. Recently, a number of research studies have reported that under certain data conditions this class of classification methods can provide more accurate classification results than existing methods, such as Fisher's linear discriminant function and logistic regression. However, these robust classification methods have not yet been implemented in the major statistical packages, and hence are beyond the reach of those statistical analysts who are unfamiliar with mathematical programming techniques. We use a limited simulation experiment and an example to compare and contrast properties of the methods included in Best-Class with existing parametric and nonparametric methods. We believe that BestClass contributes significantly to the field of nonparametric classification analysis, in that it provides the statistical community with convenient access to this recently developed class of methods. BestClass is available from the authors.     

Methods for Testing Population Signal-to-Noise Ratio

This article considered several test statistics for testing the population signal-to-noise ratio based on parametric, nonparametric, and modified methods. To compare the performance of the proposed test statistics, a simulation study has been conducted under both symmetric and skewed distributions. The performance of the test statistics is compared based on the empirical size and power of the test. It is evident for large sample that some of our proposed test statistics are performing better in the sense of high power and have been recommended for the researchers.     

The analysis of incontinence episodes and other count data in patients with overactive bladder by Poisson and negative binomial regression

Clinical studies in overactive bladder have traditionally used analysis of covariance or nonparametric methods to analyse the number of incontinence episodes and other count data. It is known that if the underlying distributional assumptions of a particular parametric method do not hold, an alternative parametric method may be more efficient than a nonparametric one, which makes no assumptions regarding the underlying distribution of the data. Therefore, there are advantages in using methods based on the Poisson distribution or extensions of that method, which incorporate specific features that provide a modelling framework for count data. One challenge with count data is overdispersion, but methods are available that can account for this through the introduction of random effect terms in the modelling, and it is this modelling framework that leads to the negative binomial distribution. These models can also provide clinicians with a clearer and more appropriate interpretation of treatment effects in terms of rate ratios. In this paper, the previously used parametric and non‐parametric approaches are contrasted with those based on Poisson regression and various extensions in trials evaluating solifenacin and mirabegron in patients with overactive bladder. In these applications, negative binomial models are seen to fit the data well. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

General partially linear additive transformation model with right-censored data

We propose a class of general partially linear additive transformation models (GPLATM) with right-censored survival data in this work. The class of models are flexible enough to cover many commonly used parametric and nonparametric survival analysis models as its special cases. Based on the B spline interpolation technique, we estimate the unknown regression parameters and functions by the maximum marginal likelihood estimation method. One important feature of the estimation procedure is that it does not need the baseline and censoring cumulative density distributions. Some numerical studies illustrate that this procedure can work very well for the moderate sample size.     

Nonparametric predictive inference for stock returns

In finance, inferences about future asset returns are typically quantified with the use of parametric distributions and single-valued probabilities. It is attractive to use less restrictive inferential methods, including nonparametric methods which do not require distributional assumptions about variables, and imprecise probability methods which generalize the classical concept of probability to set-valued quantities. Main attractions include the flexibility of the inferences to adapt to the available data and that the level of imprecision in inferences can reflect the amount of data on which these are based. This paper introduces nonparametric predictive inference (NPI) for stock returns. NPI is a statistical approach based on few assumptions, with inferences strongly based on data and with uncertainty quantified via lower and upper probabilities. NPI is presented for inference about future stock returns, as a measure for risk and uncertainty, and for pairwise comparison of two stocks based on their future aggregate returns. The proposed NPI methods are illustrated using historical stock market data.     

On Bayesian nonparametric modelling of two correlated distributions

In this paper, we consider the problem of modelling a pair of related distributions using Bayesian nonparametric methods. A representation of the distributions as weighted sums of distributions is derived through normalisation. This allows us to define several classes of nonparametric priors. The properties of these distributions are explored and efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are developed. The methodology is illustrated on simulated data and an example concerning hospital efficiency measurement.     

Tolerance limits - a review

This review covers some known results on tolerance limits for univariate distributions. Results for parametric continuous and discrete distributions as well as those based on nonparametric methods are included. Some general results, including those for certain restricted families of distributions are also covered. Sample size determination and related problems are discussed     

Testing the Homogeneity of Two Survival Functions Against a Mixture Alternative Based on Censored Data

When the survival distribution in a treatment group is a mixture of two distributions of the same family, traditional parametric methods that ignore the existence of mixture components or the nonparametric methods may not be very powerful. We develop a modified likelihood ratio test (MLRT) for testing homogeneity in a two sample problem with censored data and compare the actual type I error and power of the MLRT with that nonparametric log-rank test and parametric test through Monte-Carlo simulations. The proposed test is also applied to analyze data from a clinical trial on early breast cancer.     

A Comparison of Analysis of Covariate-Adjusted Residuals and Analysis of Covariance

Various methods to control the influence of a covariate on a response variable are compared. These methods are ANOVA with or without homogeneity of variances (HOV) of errors and Kruskal–Wallis (K–W) tests on (covariate-adjusted) residuals and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Covariate-adjusted residuals are obtained from the overall regression line fit to the entire data set ignoring the treatment levels or factors. It is demonstrated that the methods on covariate-adjusted residuals are only appropriate when the regression lines are parallel and covariate means are equal for all treatments. Empirical size and power performance of the methods are compared by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. We manipulated the conditions such as assumptions of normality and HOV, sample size, and clustering of the covariates. The parametric methods on residuals and ANCOVA exhibited similar size and power when error terms have symmetric distributions with variances having the same functional form for each treatment, and covariates have uniform distributions within the same interval for each treatment. In such cases, parametric tests have higher power compared to the K–W test on residuals. When error terms have asymmetric distributions or have variances that are heterogeneous with different functional forms for each treatment, the tests are liberal with K–W test having higher power than others. The methods on covariate-adjusted residuals are severely affected by the clustering of the covariates relative to the treatment factors when covariate means are very different for treatments. For data clusters, ANCOVA method exhibits the appropriate level. However, such a clustering might suggest dependence between the covariates and the treatment factors, so makes ANCOVA less reliable as well.     

Quantile regression for robust estimation and variable selection in partially linear varying-coefficient models

In this paper, we develop a new estimation procedure based on quantile regression for semiparametric partially linear varying-coefficient models. The proposed estimation approach is empirically shown to be much more efficient than the popular least squares estimation method for non-normal error distributions, and almost not lose any efficiency for normal errors. Asymptotic normalities of the proposed estimators for both the parametric and nonparametric parts are established. To achieve sparsity when there exist irrelevant variables in the model, two variable selection procedures based on adaptive penalty are developed to select important parametric covariates as well as significant nonparametric functions. Moreover, both these two variable selection procedures are demonstrated to enjoy the oracle property under some regularity conditions. Some Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed estimators, and a real-data example is used to illustrate the application of the proposed methods.     

A class of nonparametric bivariate survival function estimators for randomly censored and truncated data

This paper proposes a class of nonparametric estimators for the bivariate survival function estimation under both random truncation and random censoring. In practice, the pair of random variables under consideration may have certain parametric relationship. The proposed class of nonparametric estimators uses such parametric information via a data transformation approach and thus provides more accurate estimates than existing methods without using such information. The large sample properties of the new class of estimators and a general guidance of how to find a good data transformation are given. The proposed method is also justified via a simulation study and an application on an economic data set.     

Posterior Distributions for the Gini Coefficient Using Grouped Data

When available data comprise a number of sampled households in each of a number of income classes, the likelihood function is obtained from a multinomial distribution with the income class population proportions as the unknown parameters. Two methods for going from this likelihood function to a posterior distribution on the Gini coefficient are investigated. In the first method, two alternative assumptions about the underlying income distribution are considered, namely a lognormal distribution and the Singh–Maddala (1976) income distribution. In these cases the likelihood function is reparameterized and the Gini coefficient is a nonlinear function of the income distribution parameters. The Metropolis algorithm is used to find the corresponding posterior distributions of the Gini coefficient from a sample of Bangkok households. The second method does not require an assumption about the nature of the income distribution, but uses (a) triangular prior distributions, and (b) beta prior distributions, on the location of mean income within each income class. By sampling from these distributions, and the Dirichlet posterior distribution of the income class proportions, alternative posterior distributions of the Gini coefficient are calculated.     

Parametric control charts

Standard control charts are based on the assumption that the observations are normally distributed. In practice, normality often fails and consequently the false alarm rate is seriously in error. Application of a nonparametric approach is only possible with many Phase I observations. Since nowadays such very large sample sizes are usually not available, there is need for an intermediate approach by considering a larger parametric model containing the normal family as a submodel. In this paper control limits are presented in such a larger parametric model, the so called normal power family. Correction terms are derived, taking into account that the parameters are estimated. Simulation results show that the control limits are accurate, not only in the considered parametric family, but also for common distributions outside the parametric family, thus covering a broad class of distributions.     

Estimation of the Entropy Rate of a Countable Markov Chain

We consider here ergodic homogeneous Markov chains with countable state spaces. The entropy rate of the chain is an explicit function of its transition and stationary distributions. We construct estimators for this entropy rate and for the entropy of the stationary distribution of the chain, in the parametric and nonparametric cases. We study estimation from one sample with long length and from many independent samples with given length. In the parametric case, the estimators are deduced by plug-in from the maximum likelihood estimator of the parameter. In the nonparametric case, the estimators are deduced by plug-in from the empirical estimators of the transition and stationary distributions. They are proven to have good asymptotic properties.     

Nonparametric test for the homogeneity of the overall variability

In this paper, we propose a nonparametric test for homogeneity of overall variabilities for two multi-dimensional populations. Comparisons between the proposed nonparametric procedure and the asymptotic parametric procedure and a permutation test based on standardized generalized variances are made when the underlying populations are multivariate normal. We also study the performance of these test procedures when the underlying populations are non-normal. We observe that the nonparametric procedure and the permutation test based on standardized generalized variances are not as powerful as the asymptotic parametric test under normality. However, they are reliable and powerful tests for comparing overall variability under other multivariate distributions such as the multivariate Cauchy, the multivariate Pareto and the multivariate exponential distributions, even with small sample sizes. A Monte Carlo simulation study is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed procedures. An example from an educational study is used to illustrate the proposed nonparametric test.     

Two separate effects of variance heterogeneity on the validity and power of significance tests of location

Heterogeneity of variances of treatment groups influences the validity and power of significance tests of location in two distinct ways. First, if sample sizes are unequal, the Type I error rate and power are depressed if a larger variance is associated with a larger sample size, and elevated if a larger variance is associated with a smaller sample size. This well-established effect, which occurs in t and F tests, and to a lesser degree in nonparametric rank tests, results from unequal contributions of pooled estimates of error variance in the computation of test statistics. It is observed in samples from normal distributions, as well as non-normal distributions of various shapes. Second, transformation of scores from skewed distributions with unequal variances to ranks produces differences in the means of the ranks assigned to the respective groups, even if the means of the initial groups are equal, and a subsequent inflation of Type I error rates and power. This effect occurs for all sample sizes, equal and unequal. For the t test, the discrepancy diminishes, and for the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test, it becomes larger, as sample size increases. The Welch separate-variance t test overcomes the first effect but not the second. Because of interaction of these separate effects, the validity and power of both parametric and nonparametric tests performed on samples of any size from unknown distributions with possibly unequal variances can be distorted in unpredictable ways.     

Robustness and power of parametric, nonparametric, robustified and adaptive tests—The multi-sample location problem

This paper deals with a survey of different types of tests, parametric, nonparametric, robustified and adaptive ones, and with an application to the two-sided c-sample location problem. Some concepts of robustness are discussed, such as breakdown point, influence function, gross-error sensitivity and especially α- and β-robustness. A robustness study on level α in the case of heteroscedasticity and nonnormal distributions is carried out via Monte Carlo methods and also a power comparison of all the tests considered. It turns out that robustified versions of the F-test and Welch-test where the original observations are replaced by its ranks behave well over a broad class of distributions, symmetric ones with different tail weight and asymmetric ones, but, on the whole, an adaptive test is to prefer.