A Note on Comparing Multistage Procedures for Fixed-Width Confidence Interval

Fixed-width Confidence Interval for a Lognormal Mean

On Choosing a Single Criterion for Confidence-interval Procedures

Stating a confidence interval is a traditional method of indicating the sampling error of a point estimator of a model’s performance measure. We propose a single dimensionless criterion, inspired by Schruben’s coverage function, for evaluating and comparing the statistical quality of confidenceinterval procedures. Procedure quality is usually thought to be multidimensional, composed of the mean...

Sequential Fixed-width Confidence Bands for Kernel Regression Estimation

We consider a random design model based on independent and identically distributed (iid) pairs of observations (Xi, Yi), where the regression function m(x) is given by m(x) = E(Yi|Xi = x) with one independent variable. In a nonparametric setting the aim is to produce a reasonable approximation to the unknown function m(x) when we have no precise information about the form of the true density, f...

Comparing fixed and variable-width Gaussian networks

The role of width of Gaussians in two types of computational models is investigated: Gaussian radial-basis-functions (RBFs) where both widths and centers vary and Gaussian kernel networks which have fixed widths but varying centers. The effect of width on functional equivalence, universal approximation property, and form of norms in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) is explored. It is pr...

Confidence interval estimating procedures for standardized incidence rates

Performances of some common confidence interval construction procedures for direct standardized incidence or mortality rate were compared. The asymptotic method, the method based on matching moments, the method based on gamma distribution and the method based on beta distribution were investigated through Monte Carlo simulations based on data from an epidemiologic study of cardiovascular diseas...