Abstract
We study the χ 2 statistic of K. Pearson in a sequence of independent and, generally, inhomogeneous trials with a fixed number of outcomes. It is assumed that the probabilities of occurrence of outcomes of the trials satisfy certain conditions. This problem statement embraces familiar results for the χ 2 statistic in the case of multinomial trials. We obtain explicit expressions and estimates for the expectation and the variance of the χ 2 statistic. For the χ 2 statistic centered and normalized in a suitable way, we find limit distributions (the normal one, the distribution of the sum of the squares of normal random variables and, in particular, the χ 2 distribution). Conditions for the convergence to the corresponding limit distributions are given.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H. Cramer, Mathematical Methods of Statistics (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1946; Inostr. Lit., Moscow, 1948).
E. Lehmann, Testing Statistical Hypotheses (John Wiley, New York, 1959; Nauka, Moscow, 1964).
J. D. Broffitt and R. H. Randles, “A power approximation for the chi-square goodness-of-fit test: simple hypothesis case,” J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 72(359), 604–607 (1977).
B. I. Selivanov, “On the limit distributions for the χ 2 statistic,” Teor. Veroyatnost. i Primenen. 29(1), 132–134 (1984).
S. R. Rao, Linear Statistical Inference and Its Applications (John Wiley, New York-London-Sydney, 1965; Nauka, Moscow, 1968).
M. G. Kendall and A. Stuart, The Advanced Theory of Statistics, Vol. 2: Inference and Relationship, 3rd ed. (Charles Griffin, London, 1973; Nauka, Moscow, 1973).
B. Gyires, “On the asymptotic behaviour of the generalized multinomial distribution,” in Recent Developments in Statistics, Proc. European Meeting Statisticians, Grenoble, 1976 (North-Holland Publ. Comp., Amsterdam, 1977), pp. 461–470; Publ. Math. Debrecen 24 (1–2), 163 (1977).
H. Chernoff and E. L. Lehmann, “The use of maximum likelihood estimates in χ 2 tests for goodness-of-fit,” Ann. Math. Statist. 25(3), 579–586 (1954).
J. J. Dik and M. C. M. de Gunst, “The distribution of general quadratic form in normal variables,” Statist. Neerlandica 39(1), 14–26 (1985).
B. I. Selivanov, “On a class of statistics of χ 2 type,” Obozrenie Prikl. Promyshl. Mat. 2(6), 926–966 (1995).
G. M. Fikhtengol’ts, Differential and Integral Calculus (GITTL, Moscow-Leningrad, 1951), Vol. 1 [in Russian].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Original Russian Text © B. I. Selivanov, 2008, published in Matematicheskie Zametki, 2008, Vol. 83, No. 6, pp. 899–911.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Selivanov, B.I. Limit distributions of the χ 2 statistic of K. Pearson in a sequence of independent trials. Math Notes 83, 821–832 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001434608050271
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001434608050271