Applications of the Em Algorithm to the Analysis of Life Length Data

Jose Ramon Albert and Laurence A. Baxter

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, 1995, vol. 44, issue 3, 323-341

Abstract: The parameters of the life length distribution of a given component are to be estimated. The observations on which inference is to be based are field data which are incomplete in some fashion. Thus, for example, the reported life length may include a period of unknown duration during which the component is not in use, the life length distribution may be affected by an unobserved environmental factor or the component may be part of a larger system, and failure mode analysis reveals only the module containing the failed component, not its identity. It is shown how the EM algorithm can be used to calculate the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of interest in these instances. The methodology is applied to some data on the life lengths of electronic components used in the telecommunications industry, yielding values that are similar to those obtained from complete observations on comparable components.

Date: 1995
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2307/2986040

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jorssc:v:44:y:1995:i:3:p:323-341

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://ordering.onli ... 1111/(ISSN)1467-9876

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C is currently edited by R. Chandler and P. W. F. Smith

More articles in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C from Royal Statistical Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().