The Power of Confidence Intervals

Details The Power of Confidence Intervals The Power of Confidence Intervals

2000-11-21

arxiv.org/abs/hep-ex/0011069v1

Nucl.Instrum.Meth.A480:763-770,2002

Physics

High Energy Physics

High Energy Physics - Experiment

13 pages, 5 figures

Scientific paper

10.1016/S0168-9002(01)01242-6

We consider the power to reject false values of the parameter in Frequentist methods for the calculation of confidence intervals. We connect the power with the physical significance (reliability) of confidence intervals for a parameter bounded to be non-negative. We show that the confidence intervals (upper limits) obtained with a (biased) method that near the boundary has large power in testing the parameter against larger alternatives and small power in testing the parameter against smaller alternatives are physically more significant. Considering the recently proposed methods with correct coverage, we show that the physical significance of upper limits is smallest in the Unified Approach and highest in the Maximum Likelihood Estimator method. We illustrate our arguments in the specific cases of a bounded Gaussian distribution and a Poisson distribution with known background.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The Power of Confidence Intervals does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Power of Confidence Intervals, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Power of Confidence Intervals will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-176399