Generalized inferences on the common mean of several normal populations

Abstract

The hypothesis testing and interval estimation are considered for the common mean of several normal populations when the variances are unknown and possibly unequal. A new generalized pivotal is proposed based on the best linear unbiased estimator of the common mean and the generalized inference. An exact confidence interval for the common mean is also derived. The generalized confidence interval is illustrated with two numerical examples. The merits of the proposed method are numerically compared with those of the existing methods with respect to their expected lengths, coverage probabilities and powers under different scenarios. (c) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.