Re: [boost] [histogram] Variance

Subject: Re: [boost] [histogram] Variance
From: degski (degski_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-10-01 13:04:07

On Mon, 1 Oct 2018 at 15:04, Hans Dembinski via Boost <boost_at_[hidden]>
wrote:

> Poisson is correct, for example, when you monitor a random process for a
> while which produces some value x at random points in time with a constant
> rate. You bin the outcomes, and then stop monitoring at an arbitrary point
> in time. This is the right way to model many physics experiments. It is
> also correct if you make a survey with a random number of participants,
> i.e. when you pass the survey to a large number of people without knowing
> beforehand how many are going to respond.
>
> Multinomial is correct, when there is a predefined fixed number of events,
> each with a random exclusive outcome, and you bin those outcomes. The
> important point is that the number of events is fixed before the experiment
> is conducted. This is the main difference to the previous case, where the
> total of events is not known beforehand. This would be correct, if you make
> a survey with a fixed number of participants, which you invite explicitly
> and don't start the analysis before all have return the survey.
>

>From what you are saying, and I have no knowledge at all in this matter
[just reading what you say], it seems that a policy approach, to allow for
both distributions, seems appropriate. Don't want to give you more work,
but you just made the [that] point yourself.

degski
-- 
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