1st Edition

Theory of Statistical Inference

By Anthony Almudevar Copyright 2022
470 Pages 26 B/W Illustrations
by Chapman & Hall

470 Pages 26 B/W Illustrations
by Chapman & Hall

470 Pages 26 B/W Illustrations
by Chapman & Hall

Theory of Statistical Inference is designed as a reference on statistical inference for researchers and students at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level. It presents a unified treatment of the foundational ideas of modern statistical inference, and would be suitable for a core course in a graduate program in statistics or biostatistics. The emphasis is on the application of mathematical... Read more

Preface

1 Distribution Theory

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Probability Measures

1.3 Some Important Theorems of Probability

1.4 Commonly Used Distributions

1.5 Stochastic Order Relations

1.6 Quantiles

1.7 Inversion of the CDF

1.8 Transformations of Random Variables

1.9 Moment Generating Functions

1.10 Moments and Cumulants

1.11 Problems

2 Multivariate Distributions

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Parametric Classes of Multivariate Distributions

2.3 Multivariate Transformations

2.4 Order Statistics

2.5 Quadratic Forms, Idempotent Matrices and Cochran’s Theorem

2.6 MGF and CGF of Independent Sums

2.7 Multivariate Extensions of the MGF

2.8 Problems

3 Statistical Models

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Parametric Families for Statistical Inference

3.3 Location-Scale Parameter Models

3.4 Regular Families

3.5 Fisher Information

3.6 Exponential Families

3.7 Sufficiency

3.8 Complete and Ancillary Statistics

3.9 Conditional Models and Contingency Tables

3.10 Bayesian Models

3.11 Indifference, Invariance and Bayesian Prior Distributions

3.12 Nuisance Parameters

3.13 Principles of Inference

3.14 Problems

4 Methods of Estimation

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Unbiased Estimators

4.3 Method of Moments Estimators

4.4 Sample Quantiles and Percentiles

4.5 Maximum Likelihood Estimation

4.6 Confidence Sets

4.7 Equivariant Versus Shrinkage Estimation

4.8 Bayesian Estimation

4.9 Problems

5 Hypothesis Testing

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Basic Definitions

5.3 Principles of Hypothesis Tests

5.4 The Observed Level of Significance (P-Values)

5.5 One and Two Sided Tests

5.6 Hypothesis Tests and Pivots

5.7 Likelihood Ratio Tests

5.8 Similar Tests

5.9 Problems

6 Linear Models

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Linear Models - Definition

6.3 Best Linear Unbiased Estimators (BLUE)

6.4 Least-squares Estimators, BLUEs and Projection Matrices

6.5 Ordinary and Generalized Least-Squares Estimators

6.6 ANOVA Decomposition and the F Test for Linear Models

6.7 The F Test for One-Way ANOVA

6.8 Simultaneous Confidence Intervals

6.9 Multiple Linear Regression

6.10 Problems

7 Decision Theory

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Ranking Estimators by MSE

7.3 Prediction

7.4 The Structure of Decision Theoretic Inference

7.5 Loss and Risk

7.6 Uniformly Minimum Risk Estimators (The Location-Scale Model

7.7 Some Principles of Admissibility

7.8 Admissibility for Exponential Families (Karlin’s Theorem)

7.9 Bayes Decision Rules

7.10 Admissibility and Optimality

7.11 Problems

8 Uniformly Minimum Variance Unbiased (UMVU) Estimation

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Definition of UMVUE’s

8.3 UMVUE’s and Sufficiency

8.4 Methods of Deriving UMVUEs

8.5 Nonparametric Estimation and U-statistics

8.6 Rank Based Measures of Correlation

8.7 Problems

9 Group Structure and Invariant Inference

9.1 Introduction

9.2 MRE Estimators for Location Parameters

9.3 MRE Estimators for Scale Parameters

9.4 Invariant Density Families

9.5 Some Applications of Invariance

9.6 Invariant Hypothesis Tests

9.7 Problems

10 The Neyman-Pearson Lemma

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Hypothesis Test as Decision Rules

10.3 Neyman-Pearson (NP) Tests

10.4 Monotone Likelihood Ratios (MLR)

10.5 The Generalized Neyman-Pearson Lemma

10.6 Invariant Hypothesis Tests

10.7 Permutation Invariant Tests

10.8 Problems

11 Limit Theorems

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Limits of Sequences of Random Variables

11.3 Limits of Expected Values

11.4 Uniform Integrability

11.5 The Law of Large Numbers

11.6 Weak Convergence

11.7 Multivariate Extensions of Limit Theorems

11.8 The Continuous Mapping Theorem

11.9 MGFs, CGFs and Weak Convergence

11.10 The Central Limit Theorem for Triangular Arrays

11.11 Weak Convergence of Random Vectors

11.12 Problems

12 Large Sample Estimation - Basic Principles

12.1 Introduction

12.2 The _-Method

12.3 Variance Stabilizing Transformations

12.4 The _-Method and Higher Order Approximations

12.5 The Multivariate _-Method

12.6 Approximating the Distributions of Sample Quantiles: The Bahadur Representation Theorem

12.7 A Central Limit Theorem for U-statistics

12.8 The Information Inequality

12.9 Asymptotic Efficiency

12.10 Problems

13 Asymptotic Theory for Estimating Equations

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Consistency and Asymptotic Normality of M-estimators

13.3 Asymptotic Theory of MLEs

13.4 A General Form for Regression Models

13.5 Nonlinear Regression

13.6 Generalized Linear Models (GLMs)

13.7 Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE)

13.8 Consistency of M-estimators

13.9 Asymptotic Distribution of ˆ_n

13.10 Regularity Conditions for Estimating Equations

13.11 Problems

14 Large Sample Hypothesis Testing

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Model Assumptions

14.3 Large Sample Tests for Simple Hypotheses

14.4 Nuisance Parameters and Composite Null Hypotheses

14.5 A Comparison of the LR, Wald and Score Tests

14.6 Pearson’s _2 Test for Independence in Contingency Tables

14.7 Estimating Power for Approximate _2 Tests

14.8 Problems

A Parametric Classes of Densities

B Topics in Linear Algebra

B.1 Numbers

B.2 Equivalence Relations

B.3 Vector Spaces

B.4 Matrices

B.5 Dimension of a Subset of Rd

C Topics in Real Analysis and Measure Theory

C.1 Metric spaces

C.2 Measure Theory

C.3 Integration

C.4 Exchange of Integration and Differentiation

C.5 The Gamma and Beta Functions

C.6 Stirling’s Approximation of the Factorial

C.7 The Gradient Vector and the Hessian Matrix

C.8 Normed Vector Spaces

C.9 Taylor’s Theorem

D Group Theory

D.1 Definition of a Group

D.2 Subgroups

D.3 Group Homomorphisms

D.4 Transformation Groups

D.5 Orbits and Maximal Invariants

Bibliography

Index

Biography

Anthony Almudevar is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the University of Rochester. His research interests include statistical methodology, graphical models, bioinformatics, optimization and control theory. Other published volumes include Almudevar A (2014) Approximate Iterative Algorithms, CRC Press, and Statistical Modeling for Biological Systems: In Memory of Andrei Yakovlev, Anthony Almudevar, David Oakes and Jack Hall, editors (2020), Springer.

"The large variety of topics covered in the current version allows students at all level, be it bachelor, master or Ph.D. to find topics suitable for their own study. On one hand, the book contains fairly advanced topics to help researchers in their own research areas, and on the other hand, it provides enough materials for lecturers to prepare lecture notes and design an entire course on theoretical statistics. Overall, I am extremely excited about Theory of Statistical Inference and eagerly waiting for numerous students, researchers, lecturers and even working professionals to enjoy the immense benefit coming out of its publication."

Somabha MukherjeeNational University of Singapore, Singapore, Journal of the American Statistical Association, February 2024.