Prompted by several recent papers on the inference on median and mean residual life time, we note that the testing involving the mean or median residual life function in censored survival data can be obtained by an easy application of the general empirical likelihood ratio test. This approach has several advantages: (1) There is no need to estimate the variance/covariance at all, which may beco...

• In the independent two-sample t-test, we assume normality, independence, and equal variances. • This t-test is robust against nonnormality, but is sensitive to dependence. • If n1 is close to n2, then the test is moderately robust against unequal variance (σ 1 6= σ 2). But if n1 and n2 are quite different (e.g. differ by a ratio of 3 or more), then the test is much less robust. • How to deter...

The authors explore likelihood-based methods for making inferences about the components of variance in a general normal mixed linear model. In particular, they use local asymptotic approximations to construct confidence intervals for the components of variance when the components are close to the boundary of the parameter space. In the process, they explore the question of how to profile the re...