ERIC Number: EJ759783
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 18
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1076-9986
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Population-Sample Regression in the Estimation of Population Proportions
Weitzman, R. A.
Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, v31 n4 p413-430 Win 2006
Focusing on a single sample obtained randomly with replacement from a single population, this article examines the regression of population on sample proportions and develops an unbiased estimator of the square of the correlation between them. This estimator turns out to be the regression coefficient. Use of the squared-correlation estimator as a shrinkage coefficient applied to sample proportions in a Bayesian context results in credibility intervals that are narrower, sometimes considerably narrower, than conventional confidence intervals. On illustrative data involving 285 respondents who selected one of two optional responses, the 95% credibility interval was 33% narrower than the corresponding conventional confidence interval, while the regression or shrinkage effect, which decreases with increasing sample size, was about plus or minus 0.02. In a review of prior work, this article also shows that shrinkage coefficients, applied to multisample means as well as single-sample proportions, correspond generally to estimators of squared population-sample correlations. (Contains 4 figures and 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Sample Size, Intervals, Credibility, Computation, Regression (Statistics), Bayesian Statistics, Correlation
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Publication Type: Information Analyses; Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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