Unbiased and upper critical values of mean trace of multivariate beta for testing difference of two covariance matrices or several mean vectors

For the invariant unbiased level-α test of equality of two co-variance matrices, the quantities b and B satisfying the equations P(b≤T≤B) = 1-α, E(T|b≤T≤B) = E(T), where T is the mean trace of a multivariate beta, are required. Five and one per cent values of B are tabulated for m = 2,3(2)11,16; b can be obtained from B. Upper five and one per cent values of T are also included, as these are required for the locally most powerful invariant test of nullity of any source of difference in several mean vectors and the locally most powerful invariant one-sided test of equality of two covariance matrices. Lower critical values may be obtained from upper critical values.     

Invariance principles for jackknifing U-statistics for finite population sampling and some applications

For simple random sampling (without replacement) from a finite population, suitable stochastic processes are constructed from the entire sequence of jackknife estimators based on smooth functions of U-statistics and these are approximated (in distributions) by some Brownian bridge processes. Strong convergence of the Tukey estimator of the variance of a jackknife U-statistic has been interpreted suitably and established. Some applications of these results in sequential analysis relating to finite population sampling are also considered.     

An evaluation of some nonparametric multiple comparison procedures by Monte Carlo methods

Computer simulation techniques were employed to investigate the Type I and Type II error rates (experiment-wise and comparison-wise) of three nonparametric multiple comparison procedures. Three different underlying distributions were considered. It was found that the nonparametric analog to Fisher’s LSD (a Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by pairwise Mann-Whitney U tests if a significant overall effect is detected) appeared to be superior to the Nemenyi-Dunn and Steel-Dwass procedures, because of the extreme conservatism of these latter methods.     

A bayesian analysis of the multinomial model for a dichotomous response with nonrespondents

This paper studies the mu1tinomial model 2x2 contingency table data with some cell counts missing .Various hypotheses of interest including row-column independence are tested by using Bayes factors which represent the ratio of the posterior odds to the prior odds for the null hypothesis. The Dirichlet-Beta family of prior distributions is considered for the multinomial parameters cond itional on the complement of the null hypothesis. The Bayes factor for the incomplete data is a mixture of the Bayes factors for different possibilities for the full data.     

The Sensitivity of Chi-Squared Goodness-of-Fit Tests to the Partitioning of Data

Abstract

The power of Pearson's overall goodness-of-fit test and the components-of-chi-squared or “Pearson analog” tests of Anderson [Anderson, G. (1994). Simple tests of distributional form. J. Econometrics 62:265–276] to detect rejections due to shifts in location, scale, skewness and kurtosis is studied, as the number and position of the partition points is varied. Simulations are conducted for small and moderate sample sizes. It is found that smaller numbers of classes than are used in practice may be appropriate, and that the choice of non-equiprobable classes can result in substantial gains in power.     

Modern trends in multivariate time-series analysis 2

The paper deals with statistical tests of hypotheses about the real parameter of a homogeneous time-discrete Markov process. The power function of an asymptotically uniformly most powerful unbiased sequence of tests is approximately calculated and the convergence order of the remainder term is given. The essential assumption used is the uniform ergodicity of the Markov process.     

Testing equality of population variances the robust way

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the robustness (stability of Type I error to deviations from normality) and power properties of various tests for testing equality of population variances. It is shown that the tests based on Tiku’ s (1967, 1980, 1982) MML estimators have good robustness properties and are the most powerful overall.     

Degradation data analysis for samples under unequal operating conditions: a case study on train wheels

Traditionally, reliability assessment of devices has been based on life tests (LTs) or accelerated life tests (ALTs). However, these approaches are not practical for high-reliability devices which are not likely to fail in experiments of reasonable length. For these devices, LTs or ALTs will end up with a high censoring rate compromising the traditional estimation methods. An alternative approach is to monitor the devices for a period of time and assess their reliability from the changes in performance (degradation) observed during the experiment. In this paper, we present a model to evaluate the problem of train wheel degradation, which is related to the failure modes of train derailments. We first identify the most significant working conditions affecting the wheel wear using a nonlinear mixed-effects (NLME) model where the log-rate of wear is a linear function of some working conditions such as side, truck and axle positions. Next, we estimate the failure time distribution by working condition analytically. Point and interval estimates of reliability figures by working condition are also obtained. We compare the results of the analysis via an NLME to the ones obtained by an approximate degradation analysis.     

Tests of fit for a lognormal distribution

The problem of goodness of fit of a lognormal distribution is usually reduced to testing goodness of fit of the logarithmic data to a normal distribution. In this paper, new goodness-of-fit tests for a lognormal distribution are proposed. The new procedures make use of a characterization property of the lognormal distribution which states that the Kullback–Leibler measure of divergence between a probability density function (p.d.f) and its r-size weighted p.d.f is symmetric only for the lognormal distribution [Tzavelas G, Economou P. Characterization properties of the log-normal distribution obtained with the help of divergence measures. Stat Probab Lett. 2012;82(10):1837–1840]. A simulation study examines the performance of the new procedures in comparison with existing goodness-of-fit tests for the lognormal distribution. Finally, two well-known data sets are used to illustrate the methods developed.     

Testing inference in variable dispersion beta regressions

The class of beta regression models proposed by Ferrari and Cribari-Neto [Beta regression for modelling rates and proportions, Journal of Applied Statistics 31 (2004), pp. 799–815] is useful for modelling data that assume values in the standard unit interval (0, 1). The dependent variable relates to a linear predictor that includes regressors and unknown parameters through a link function. The model is also indexed by a precision parameter, which is typically taken to be constant for all observations. Some authors have used, however, variable dispersion beta regression models, i.e., models that include a regression submodel for the precision parameter. In this paper, we show how to perform testing inference on the parameters that index the mean submodel without having to model the data precision. This strategy is useful as it is typically harder to model dispersion effects than mean effects. The proposed inference procedure is accurate even under variable dispersion. We present the results of extensive Monte Carlo simulations where our testing strategy is contrasted to that in which the practitioner models the underlying dispersion and then performs testing inference. An empirical application that uses real (not simulated) data is also presented and discussed.