Estimation of the Mean Positively Skewed Distributions,
Abstract
We consider estimating the mean of a positively skewed distribution. It has been noted that in random samples the sample mean has a large probability of falling below the mean of the distribution, because of such skewness. Various ad hoc procedures have been proposed to correct this low coverage of the mean in order to estimate conservatively longterm exposure to contaminated soils at toxic waste sites. We propose a direct estimate of the mean based on a penalized empirical loss function. This loss function is made up of a squared error loss plus a penalty for each observation that falls above the estimate. The resulting minimum risk estimate, called the penalized mean, is derived iteratively and shown to be biased in favor of greater coverage.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADP007194
Entities
People
- Ling Chen
- Robert W. Jernigan
Organizations
- Florida International University