Statistical Theory And Computational Aspects Of Smoothing

Statistical Theory and Computational Aspects of Smoothing

One of the main applications of statistical smoothing techniques is nonparametric regression. For the last 15 years there has been a strong theoretical interest in the development of such techniques. Related algorithmic concepts have been a main concern in computational statistics. Smoothing techniques in regression as well as other statistical methods are increasingly applied in biosciences and economics. But they are also relevant for medical and psychological research. Introduced are new developments in scatterplot smoothing and applications in statistical modelling. The treatment of the topics is on an intermediate level avoiding too much technicalities. Computational and applied aspects are considered throughout. Of particular interest to readers is the discussion of recent local fitting techniques.

Statistical Theory and Computational Aspects of Smoothing

Smoothing Methods in Statistics

The existence of high speed, inexpensive computing has made it easy to look at data in ways that were once impossible. Where once a data analyst was forced to make restrictive assumptions before beginning, the power of the computer now allows great freedom in deciding where an analysis should go. One area that has benefited greatly from this new freedom is that of non parametric density, distribution, and regression function estimation, or what are generally called smoothing methods. Most people are familiar with some smoothing methods (such as the histogram) but are unlikely to know about more recent developments that could be useful to them. If a group of experts on statistical smoothing methods are put in a room, two things are likely to happen. First, they will agree that data analysts seriously underappreciate smoothing methods. Smoothing meth ods use computing power to give analysts the ability to highlight unusual structure very effectively, by taking advantage of people's abilities to draw conclusions from well-designed graphics. Data analysts should take advan tage of this, they will argue.