Edexcel S4 2013 June — Question 8

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleS4 (Statistics 4)
Year2013
SessionJune
TopicCentral limit theorem
TypeEstimator properties and bias

8. A random sample \(W _ { 1 } , W _ { 2 } \ldots , W _ { n }\) is taken from a distribution with mean \(\mu\) and variance \(\sigma ^ { 2 }\)
  1. Write down \(\mathrm { E } \left( \sum _ { i = 1 } ^ { n } W _ { i } \right)\) and show that \(\mathrm { E } \left( \sum _ { i = 1 } ^ { n } W _ { i } ^ { 2 } \right) = n \left( \sigma ^ { 2 } + \mu ^ { 2 } \right)\) An estimator for \(\mu\) is $$\bar { X } = \frac { 1 } { n } \sum _ { i = 1 } ^ { n } W _ { i }$$
  2. Show that \(\bar { X }\) is a consistent estimator for \(\mu\). An estimator of \(\sigma ^ { 2 }\) is $$U = \frac { 1 } { n } \sum _ { i = 1 } ^ { n } W _ { i } ^ { 2 } - \left( \frac { 1 } { n } \sum _ { i = 1 } ^ { n } W _ { i } \right) ^ { 2 }$$
  3. Find the bias of \(U\).
  4. Write down an unbiased estimator of \(\sigma ^ { 2 }\) in the form \(k U\), where \(k\) is in terms of \(n\).