EXAM C QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK

S. Broverman, 2005

Question 1 - Week of July 25

You are given the following random sample of observations:
3 , 4 , 6 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 8 , 8 , 9 , 12
(a) Find the smoothed empirical estimate of the median.
(b) Find the estimate of the median using the kernel smoothed distribution function based on a
uniform kernel with a bandwidth of 2.

Solution can be found below.

Question 1 - Week of July 25 - Solution

(a) With 8 "! data points, the smoothed percentiles of the given data points are
B
Smoothed Percentile
"
$
"" !!*!*
#
%
"" !")")
$
'
"" !$'$'
%
'
"" !$'$'
&
(
"" !%&%&
'
)
"" !&%&&
(
)
"" !'$'%
)
)
"" !(#($
*
*
"" !)")#
"!
"#
"" !*!*"
&
'
Since !& is between "" !%&%& and ""
!&%&& , the smoothed empirical estimate of the
50th percentile will be between B ( and B ) . The smoothed empirical 50th percentile,
say 7, is found by linear interpolation. The proportion of the way that 7 is between B ( and
&
'
B ) is the same proportion of the way that !& is between ""
!%&%& and ""
!&%&& ,
which is the same proportion of the way that && is between & and ' (we get these by
multiplying !& , !%&%& and !&%&& by 11). We see that && is "# of the way from & to ', and
therefore 7 is "# of the way from B ( to B ). Therefore, 7 ( "# (& is the smoothed
empirical estimate of the 50th percentile.
(b) The empirical probability function is
:$ " :% " :' # :( " :) $ :* " :"# " .
With a bandwidth of 2, the bands are " & for C $ , # ' for C % , % ) for C ' ,
& * for C ( , ' "! for C ) , ( "" for C * and "! "% for C "#
The cumulative kernel functions are
O$ B #&B " for " B &, O$ B 0 for B " and O$ B " for B &
O% B #&B # for # B ', O% B 0 for B # and O% B " for B '
O' B #&B % for % B ), O' B 0 for B % and O' B " for B )
O( B #&B & for & B *, O( B 0 for B & and O( B " for B *
O) B #&B ' for ' B "!, O) B 0 for B ' and O) B " for B "!
O* B #&B ( for ( B "", O* B 0 for B ( and O* B " for B "" and
O"# B #&B "! for "! B "%, O"# B 0 for B "! and O"# B " for B "% .
The kernel smoothed distribution function is
s B  :C OC B .
J
C

s B ! .
For B " J
s B "#&B " , which ranges from 0 to .025 .
For " B # J
s B "#&B " "#&B # , which ranges from .025 to .1#& .
For # B % J
s B "#&B " "#&B # 2#&B 4 ,
For % B & J
which ranges from .1#& . to .225 .
s B "" "#&B # 2#&B 4 "#&B & ,
For & B ' J
which ranges from .2#& . to .325 .
For ' B (
s B "" "" 2#&B 4 "#&B & $#&B ' ,
J
which ranges from .3#& . to .475 .
For ( B )
s B "" "" 2#&B 4
J
"#&B & $#&B ' "#&B ( ,
which ranges from .47& . to .650 .
The estimated median based on the kernel smoothed distribution function would occur at
s 7 &! . Since J
s B is a linear function, and since J
s ( %(& and
B 7, where J
!#&
"
s ) '&!, we see that 7 must be
J
"(& ( "%$ of the way from B ( to B ) . Thus,
7 ("% .