User talk:StanfordCommSci

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Rice distribution: The Koay inversion technique
Hi, you said :

The Koay inversion technique is indeed a parameter estimation if viewed from a statistical point of view but it is also an inversion technique when viewed from the "inverse problems" point of view. Of course, there are other estimation techniques but as an inversion technique the Koay inversion technique is very original and peculiar at the same time. As far as I can tell, I have not seen anything like this before. Your comment on the technique would be a welcome addition to the Wikipedia. Therefore, I think a more specific name for this inversion technique is not at all inappropriate.

-Carl —Preceding unsigned comment added by StanfordCommSci (talk • contribs) 16:52, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I had changed the section heading to simply "parameter estimation" as I felt this to be more informative in the current context in which the rest of that article exists. This context was I felt almost only "Statistics" or "probability distributions" where the term "inversion" or "inverse problem" is not generally used. The article could do with some more general background about where the Rice distribution is applied and presumably where this "Koay inversion technique" was developed and, if it is important, about why having a fast solution technique is important, rather than using something more generic. As noted on the article's talk page, the most obvious estimation approach for a statistician is maximum likelihood and it would be good to have some info about any comparisons that might have been done. At some stage the article might well end up with a subsection specifically named "Koay inversion technique", within a more general "parameter estimation" section. Unfortunately, the Rice distribution seems not to be included in any detail in the standard references for statistics of probability distributions, so I have easy access to anything useful. As for originality of the technique, it is similar to many others (for other distributions), but I think these have moved on beyond using an iterative solution every time an estimate is required to using a techique such as finding a rational-function approximation to the solution function: thus it may be possible to find 4 or 8 coefficents for a formula which will define the required estimate as a function of r. Melcombe (talk) 09:10, 17 May 2010 (UTC)