• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Estimation of Non-Unique Quantiles
  • Contributor: Feldman, Dorian; Tucker, Howard G.
  • Published: Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 1966
  • Published in: The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 37 (1966) 2, Seite 451-457
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 0003-4851
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: This paper is concerned with consistent estimates of a quantile of a distribution function when the quantile is not unique. To be more precise, since the quantile is assumed not to be unique, we are concerned with obtaining a consistent estimate of the smallest pth quantile for a fixed $p(0 < p < 1)$, and from this procedure we can estimate the largest pth quantile. In Section 2 we consider the oscillating character and limit distribution of the sample pth quantile. Also included in this section is a precise statement of the problem to be solved. In Section three the problem of medians only is considered. Here we treat the sample median of the set of averages of all$\binom{n + 1}{2}$pairs of observations X1, ⋯, Xn, which is briefly mentioned in [1]. We give a proof that this sample median converges almost surely to the center median of the original population, provided that the original distribution function is symmetric about a median. If this symmetry condition is relaxed, it is shown that this sample median of averages of pairs need not converge; and even if it did converge, it might converge to a number which is not a median of the parent distribution. In Section 4, strongly consistent estimates of the smallest pth quantile are obtained (for fixed $p, 0 < p < 1$) which do not depend on the functional form of the parent distribution function, and a characterization of weakly consistent estimates is given.
  • Access State: Open Access