Triple Sampling Inference Procedures for the Mean of the Normal Distribution When the Population Coefficient of Variation Is Known

Abstract

This paper discusses the triple sampling inference procedures for the mean of a symmetric distribution—the normal distribution when the coefficient of variation is known. We use the Searls’ estimator as an initial estimate for the unknown population mean rather than the classical sample mean. In statistics literature, the normal distribution under investigation underlines almost all the natural phenomena with applications in many fields. First, we discuss the minimum risk point estimation problem under a squared error loss function with linear sampling cost. We obtained all asymptotic results that enhanced finding the second-order asymptotic risk and regret. Second, we construct a fixed-width confidence interval for the mean that satisfies at least a predetermined nominal value and find the second-order asymptotic coverage probability. Both estimation problems are performed under a unified optimal framework. The theoretical results reveal that the performance of the triple sampling procedure depends on the numerical value of the coefficient of variation—the smaller the coefficient of variation, the better the performance of the procedure.

Keywords

• confidence interval
• minimum risk point estimation
• Searls’ estimator
• triple sampling procedure