What is the Confidence Limit for p in f(x;p)?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around finding a one-sided lower confidence limit for the parameter p in the mixture distribution f(x;p) = p*f(x) + (1-p)*g(x), where f(x) and g(x) are probability density functions (pdfs) of normally distributed random variables. The participants explore the implications of combining these pdfs and the challenges associated with understanding the resulting distribution.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses frustration in deriving the confidence limit due to the complexity of the mixture distribution f(x;p) and its interpretation.
  • Another participant provides a formula related to the distribution of linear combinations of normal variables, suggesting a connection to the problem at hand.
  • A clarification is sought regarding the equivalence of scaling a pdf and scaling a random variable, indicating some confusion about the properties of pdfs.
  • There is a discussion on the conditions under which linear combinations of pdfs are valid, emphasizing the need for non-negativity and integration to one.
  • One participant concludes that the distribution of f(x;p) does not affect the answer and suggests using the CDF transform technique to simplify the problem.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants demonstrate a lack of consensus on the interpretation of pdfs in the context of linear combinations and the implications for the problem. While some points are clarified, the overall discussion remains unresolved regarding the best approach to finding the confidence limit.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight the importance of understanding the properties of pdfs when combining them, but there are unresolved questions about the implications of these properties for the specific problem being discussed.

legatus
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Let f(x;p) = p*f(x) + (1-p)*g(x) where f(x) is the pdf of r.v. X1 dist N(1,1) and g(x) is the pdf of r.v. X2 dist N(0,1). Find one-sided lower confidence limit for p based on a sample size n=1.

This question has been driving me crazy. Everything that I've tried seems to be going nowhere, am I missing something obvious. What's throwing me off is that the new pdf is a sum of two others, and its not entirely obvious what the distribution f(x;p) looks like.

Thanks
 
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cZ~N(cmu,c^2sigma^2) where Z~N(mu,sigma^2)

and X+Y~N(mu_x+mu_y,sigma_x^2+sigma_y^2) (assuming x and y are independent).
 
thanks for the response,

just a clarification, I don't see how it's entirely obvious that c*f(x) is equivalent to cX. The latter is a pretty obvious result from MGF's but the former I'm not sure about.
 
Hmmm?

Please clarify what you mean.

c*f_x(x) is not the density function for cX. Unless, c=1.
 
its alright, I have it.

To answer your question, that's exactly what I meant. cX is not equivalent to c*f(x)

But from you're earlier post, you just stated that a linear combination of normal variables is also normal. Thats only true when we're talking about the random variable itself, not its pdf. I was curious about the linear combination of the pdf of normal variables.

However, the answer doesn't depend on the distribution of f(x;p) anyways, so its all a moot point either way, just use the CDF transform technique and it becomes uniform(0,1).
 
Linear combinations of pdfs don't make sense unless a) they integrate to probability 1 and b) they are nonnegative.

cf(x) integreates to c whenever f(x) is a pdf.
 
thats pretty obvious, i don't see how it helps with the question, its figured out anyways
 

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