Abstract
In situations where the experimental or sampling units in a study can be easily ranked than quantified, McIntyre (1952,Aust. J. Agric. Res.,3, 385–390) proposed that the mean ofn units based on aranked set sample (RSS) be used to estimate the population mean, and observed that it provides an unbiased estimator with a smaller variance compared to a simple random sample (SRS) of the same sizen. McIntyre's concept ofRSS is essentially nonparametric in nature in that the underlying population distribution is assumed to be completely unknown. In this paper we further explore the concept ofRSS when the population is partially known and the parameter of interest is not necessarily the mean. To be specific, we address the problem of estimation of the parameters of a two-parameter exponential distribution. It turns out that the use ofRSS and its suitable modifications results in much improved estimators compared to the use of aSRS.
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Lam, K., Sinha, B.K. & Wu, Z. Estimation of parameters in a two-parameter exponential distribution using ranked set sample. Ann Inst Stat Math 46, 723–736 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00773478
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00773478