Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences , Update Volume 2

Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences is the number one source of information on statistical theory, methods, and applications for researchers and clinicians. This new volume is the second of three updates designed to bring the Encyclopedia in line with new and emerging topics and important advances in statistical science made over the past decade. Each self-contained entry is written by a leader in the field and easily understood by readers with a modest statistical background. In addition to the main selections, which feature fascinating discussions of developments in various branches of the statistical sciences, readers will find a series of shorter entries ranging in subject matter from the lives of pioneers in statistics to updates of earlier articles and reviews of statistical agencies and journals. Up-to-date bibliographies, thorough cross-referencing, and extensive indexing facilitate quick access to specific information and provide an indispensable platform for further study and research.

With the publication of this update installment, the Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences retains its position as a cutting-edge reference of choice for those working in statistics, probability theory, biostatistics, quality control, and economics and in applications of statistical methods in sociology, engineering, computer science, biomedicine, psychology, and many other areas.

Editorial Board, Chairman: Norman L. Johnson Emeritus Professor of Statistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Members of the Advisory Board:

• Stephen E. Fienberg Maurice Falk Professor of Statistics Carnegie Mellon University
• Nancy Reid Professor of Statistics University of Toronto
• D. Michael Titterington Professor of Statistics University of Glasgow
• Geoffrey S. Watson Emeritus Professor of Statistics Princeton University

Editorial Assistant: Sheila Crain Southern Methodist University

About the editors

SAMUEL KOTZ, PhD, is currently a visiting scholar at The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Dr. Kotz received his PhD in mathematical statistics from Cornell University and has held distinguished visiting positions at Bucknell University, Bowling Green State University, Tel Aviv University, University of Guelph, Harbin Institute of Technology (China), Luleåversity (Sweden), and Copenhagen University. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the Harbin Institute of Technology in 1987, the University of Athens (Greece) in 1995, and from Bowling Green State University in 1996. In addition to serving as coordinating editor of Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, Dr. Kotz is the coauthor with Dr. N. L. Johnson of the recently published Leading Personalities in Statistical Sciences, the classic four-volume Distributions in Statistics (now in its second edition), Urn Models and Applications, Symmetric Multivariate and Related Distributions, Educated Guessing, Process Capability Indices, Recent Results in Information Theory, several Russian-English technical dictionaries, and more than 100 research papers in the fields of statistics, probability theory, and quality control.

CAMPBELL B. READ, PhD, is Professor of Statistical Science at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas. He studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge, in England, and obtained a PhD in mathematical statistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of several research papers in sequential analysis, properties of statistical distributions, and contingency table analysis, and is coauthor of the Handbook of the Normal Distribution. He is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, has served on the faculty of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and was a visiting scholar in 1987 at the University of Cambridge.

DAVID L. BANKS, PhD, is a mathematical statistician at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Dr. Banks received his PhD in statistics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and served on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University from 1987 to 1997. He has held visiting positions at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Cambridge.