Systems Reliability and Inference
Abstract
The principle of indifference has been used to analyze problems in survival analysis. In De Finetti-Type Representations for Life Distributions, Barlow and Mendel (1992) used this principle to derive so-called generalized gamma and generalized Weibull likelihood models with applications to survival analysis. Beginning with a finite population of units and the judgment of exchangeability for units with respect to lifetime, we argue that measures of similarity lead to the appropriate probabilistic models for aging. This in turn implies that Schur-concavity of the joint probability function (or more generally, the joint survival distribution) provides the correct probabilistic description of aging. Recent research on systems reliability and inference has focused on four areas: the prediction of unreported events and costs from partial information on claims with delayed reporting; models of life testing with censored or truncated incomplete data; make or buy decisions of production with random yields; and investigation of natural conjugate priors for familiar two-parameter distributions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 30, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA268549
Entities
People
- Richard E. Barlow
- William S. Jewell
Organizations
- University of California, Berkeley