Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Statistical Evaluation Of Algorithms For Independently Seeding Pseudo-Random Number Generators Of Type Multiplicative Congruential (Lehmer-Class)., Robert Grisham Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To be effective, a linear congruential random number generator (LCG) should produce values that are (a) uniformly distributed on the unit interval (0,1) excluding endpoints and (b) substantially free of serial correlation. It has been found that many statistical methods produce inflated Type I error rates for correlated observations. Theoretically, independently seeding an LCG under the following conditions attenuates serial correlation: (a) simple random sampling of seeds, (b) non-replicate streams, (c) non-overlapping streams, and (d) non-adjoining streams. Accordingly, 4 algorithms (each satisfying at least 1 condition) were developed: (a) zero-leap, (b) fixed-leap, (c) scaled random-leap, and (d) unscaled random-leap. Note …

Confidence Intervals For Population Size In A Capture-Recapture Problem., Xiao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a single capture-recapture problem, two new Wilson methods for interval estimation of population size are derived. Classical Chapman interval, Wilson and Wilson-cc intervals are examined and compared in terms of their expected interval width and exact coverage properties in two models. The new approach performs better than the Chapman in each model. Bayesian analysis also gives a different way to estimate population size.

Epidemic Of Lung Cancer Or Artifact Of Classification In The State Of Kentucky?, Beatrice Simo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States despite public health campaigns aimed at reducing its rate of mortality. Kentucky is the state with the highest lung cancer incidence and mortality. This study aims to assess the impact of misclassification of cause of death from Lung Cancer in Kentucky for the period 1979 to 2002. We will examine the potential competing classification of death for two other smoking-related diseases, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Emphysema. Age-adjusted mortality rates for these diseases for white males were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics. There …

Comparing The Statistical Tests For Homogeneity Of Variances., Zhiqiang Mu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Testing the homogeneity of variances is an important problem in many applications since statistical methods of frequent use, such as ANOVA, assume equal variances for two or more groups of data. However, testing the equality of variances is a difficult problem due to the fact that many of the tests are not robust against non-normality. It is known that the kurtosis of the distribution of the source data can affect the performance of the tests for variance. We review the classical tests and their latest, more robust modifications, some other tests that have recently appeared in the literature, and use …

Amended Estimators Of Several Ratios For Categorical Data., Dandan Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Point estimation of several association parameters in categorical data are presented. Typically, a constant is added to the frequency counts before the association measure is computed. We will study the accuracy of these adjusted point estimators based on frequentist and Bayesian methods respectively. In particular, amended estimators for the ratio of independent Poisson rates, relative risk, odds ratio, and the ratio of marginal binomial proportions will be examined in terms of bias and mean squared error.

Bayesian Reference Inference On The Ratio Of Poisson Rates., Changbin Guo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bayesian reference analysis is a method of determining the prior under the Bayesian paradigm. It incorporates as little information as possible from the experiment. Estimation of the ratio of two independent Poisson rates is a common practical problem. In this thesis, the method of reference analysis is applied to derive the posterior distribution of the ratio of two independent Poisson rates, and then to construct point and interval estimates based on the reference posterior. In addition, the Frequentist coverage property of HPD intervals is verified through simulation.

An Analysis Of Financial Planning For Employees Of East Tennessee State University., Steven Roy Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if East Tennessee State University provides its employees appropriate financial planning services. In particular, it is unknown to what degree employees of East Tennessee State University have actively engaged in financial planning.

The research was conducted during June and July, 2005. Data were gathered by surveying faculty, staff, and retirees of the university. Ten percent of the population responded to the study. The survey instrument covered the areas of retirement, other financial planning services, and attitudes toward financial planning.

The results of the data analysis gave insight into what degree employees of …

The Interquartile Range: Theory And Estimation., Dewey Lonzo Whaley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The interquartile range (IQR) is used to describe the spread of a distribution. In an introductory statistics course, the IQR might be introduced as simply the “range within which the middle half of the data points lie.” In other words, it is the distance between the two quartiles, IQR = Q₃ - Q₁. We will compute the population IQR, the expected value, and the variance of the sample IQR for various continuous distributions. In addition, a bootstrap confidence interval for the population IQR will be evaluated.

Statistical Power Analysis Of Dissertations Completed By Students Majoring In Educational Leadership At Tennessee Universities, Heping Deng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to estimate the level of statistical power demonstrated in recent dissertations in the field of educational leadership. Power tables provided in Cohen's (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences were used to determine the power of the statistical tests conducted in dissertations selected from five universities in Tennessee. The meta-analytic approach was used to summarize and synthesize the findings. The population of this study consisted of all dissertations successfully defended by doctoral students majoring in educational leadership/administration at East Tennessee State University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Tennessee State University, the University …