Bulletin Of Mathematical Statistics

Mathematical Statistics

This graduate textbook covers topics in statistical theory essential for graduate students preparing for work on a Ph.D. degree in statistics. The first chapter provides a quick overview of concepts and results in measure-theoretic probability theory that are useful in statistics. The second chapter introduces some fundamental concepts in statistical decision theory and inference. Chapters 3-7 contain detailed studies on some important topics: unbiased estimation, parametric estimation, nonparametric estimation, hypothesis testing, and confidence sets. A large number of exercises in each chapter provide not only practice problems for students, but also many additional results. In addition to improving the presentation, the new edition makes Chapter 1 a self-contained chapter for probability theory with emphasis in statistics. Added topics include useful moment inequalities, more discussions of moment generating and characteristic functions, conditional independence, Markov chains, martingales, Edgeworth and Cornish-Fisher expansions, and proofs to many key theorems such as the dominated convergence theorem, monotone convergence theorem, uniqueness theorem, continuity theorem, law of large numbers, and central limit theorem. A new section in Chapter 5 introduces semiparametric models, and a number of new exercises were added to each chapter.

Bulletin - Institute of Mathematical Statistics

Mathematical Statistics

Traditional texts in mathematical statistics can seem - to some readers-heavily weighted with optimality theory of the various flavors developed in the 1940s and50s, and not particularly relevant to statistical practice. Mathematical Statistics stands apart from these treatments. While mathematically rigorous, its focus is on providing a set of useful tools that allow students to understand the theoretical underpinnings of statistical methodology. The author concentrates on inferential procedures within the framework of parametric models, but - acknowledging that models are often incorrectly specified - he also views estimation from a non-parametric perspective. Overall, Mathematical Statistics places greater emphasis on frequentist methodology than on Bayesian, but claims no particular superiority for that approach. It does emphasize, however, the utility of statistical and mathematical software packages, and includes several sections addressing computational issues. The result reaches beyond "nice" mathematics to provide a balanced, practical text that brings life and relevance to a subject so often perceived as irrelevant and dry.