Linear calibra and conditional inference

Approximate conditional inference is developed for the linear calibration problem. It is shown that this problem can be transformed so that the primary parameter is an angle, the nuisance parameter is a radial distance, and the density is rotationally symmetric. Were the nuisance parameter known, exact location confidence intervals would be available by location of structural arguments. A confidence distribution is used to average out the nuisance parameter yielding an approximate confidence interval that involves a precision indicator derived from the radial distance. Some difficulties with the ordinary solution are avoided by the conditional procedure.     

On the distributions of the inner distance functions in the multivariate normal populations with unequal covariance matrices

The sample distance functions between an observation and a population were deduced by the likelihood procedures for discrimination problem in the case of several normal populations with unequal covariance matrices(1986). The present paper gives the exact MGFs of the distance functions for the case that the observation and the sample come from the same population and the limiting distributions of the distance functions by using the MCFs.     

Approximations for a fixed sample size selection procedure for negative binomial populations

A large sample approximation of the least favorable configuration for a fixed sample size selection procedure for negative binomial populations is proposed. A normal approximation of the selection procedure is also presented. Optimal sample sizes required to be drawn from each population and the bounds for the sample sizes are tabulated. Sample sizes obtained using the approximate least favorable configuration are compared with those obtained using the exact least favorable configuration. Alternate form of the normal approximation to the probability of correct selection is also presented. The relation between the required sample size and the number of populations involved is studied.     

The absorption distribution and the q-binomial theorem

Approximations for the mean and variance for the absorption distribution are found by means of a transformation of ordinary binomial to Gaussian or q-binomial coefficients.     

The asymptotic moment profile and maximum likelihood: Applications to gamma and gamma ratio densities

In previous papers ( Bowman and Shenton, 1998, 1999a ) we have given expressions for the asymptotic skewness and kurtosis for maximum likelihood estimators in the case of several parameters. Skewness is measured by the third standardized central moment, and kurtosis by the fourth standardized central moment. Moments of the basic structure are assumed to exist. The overarching entity is the covariance matrix ( Hessian form ), and elements of its inverse. These entities involve Stieltjes integrals relating to sums of products of multiple derivatives linked to the basic structure. The first paper dealt with skewness and gives a simple expression read¬ily computerized. The second paper is devoted to the forth standardized central moment and although a certain simplification is discovered, the resulting formula is still somewhat complicated, ft is surprising to find that the asymptotic kurtosis in general requires the evaluation of several hundred components. The present paper studies cases involving estimator for two parameter gamma and one, and three pa¬rameter gamma ratio densities, and mentions strategies aimed at avoiding algebraic and numerical errors.     

Automatic Smoothing for Poisson Regression

Abstract

Adaptive choice of smoothing parameters for nonparametric Poisson regression (O'Sullivan et al., 1986 O'Sullivan , F. , Yandell , B. S. , Raynor , W. J., Jr. ( 1986 ). Automatic smoothing of regression functions in generalized linear models . J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 81 : 96 – 103 . [CSA] [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is considered in this article. A computable approximation of the unbiased risk estimate (AUBR) for Poisson regression is introduced. This approximation can be used to automatically tune the smoothing parameter for the penalized likelihood estimator. An alternative choice is the generalized approximate cross validation (GACV) proposed by Xiang and Wahba (1996 Xiang , D. , Wahba , G. ( 1996 ). A generalized approximate cross validation for smoothing splines with non-Gaussian data . Statist. Sinica 6 (3): 675 – 692 .[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Although GACV enjoys a great success in practice when applying for nonparametric logisitic regression, its performance for Poisson regression is not clear. Numerical simulations have been conducted to evaluate the GACV and AUBR based tuning methods. We found that GACV has a tendency to oversmooth the data when the intensity function is small. As a consequence, we suggest tuning the smoothing parameter using AUBR in practice.     

Editorial

This paper uses the empirical characteristic function (ECF) procedure to estimate the parameters of mixtures of normal distributions. Since the characteristic function is uniformly bounded, the procedure gives estimates that are numerically stable. It is shown that, using Monte Carlo simulation, the finite sample properties of th ECF estimator are very good, even in the case where the popular maximum likelihood estimator fails to exist. An empirical application is illustrated using the monthl excess return of the Nyse value-weighted index.     

The two-color urn model: recursions for the moments

For the two-color reinforcement-depletion urn model, with balancing reinforcement and depletion held constant over cycles, a recursive formula is given from which all factorial moments (for white balls, for example) can be determined. When the reinforcement of each color is positive, the stationary distribution of white balls (infinite number of cycles) turns out to be determined by three parameters. namely (i) the total number of balls in the urn, (ii) the richness of the reinforcement, or ratio of white ball reinforcement to total reinforcement, and (iii) the size of the white ball reinforcement. In addition, the distribution mimics the binomial (with less variance and skewness (√β₁:) ) and from formulas for the exact first four moments rapidly approaches normality. On the basis of the few cases studied, an approximating Gram-Charlier distribution with a binomial nucleus is only moderately successful     

New approximations to the exact distribution of the kruskal-wallis test statistic

Several approximations to the exact distribution of the Kruskal-Wallis test' statistic presently exist. There approximations can roughly be grouped into two classes: (i) computationally difficult with good accuracy, and (ii) easy to compute but not as accurate as the first class. The purpose of this paper is to introduce two nev approximations (one in the latter class and one which is computationally more involved)y and to compare these with other popular approximations. These comparisons use exact probabilities where available and Monte Carlo simulation otherwise.     

Asymptotic Analysis of Some Discrete Distributions by the Saddle Point Method

We present asymptotic formulas for the probability mass functions of three discrete distributions: the Neyman type A, the compound Poisson–Katz, and the convolution of negative binomial and Pólya–Aeppli. An approximation of the moments of the Neyman type A distribution is also given. All of these results are found by Hayman's encapsulation of the saddle point method.