Mathematical Statistics: A Decision Theoretic Approach presents an investigation of the extent to which problems of mathematical statistics may be treated by decision theory approach. This book deals with statistical theory that could be justified from a decision-theoretic viewpoint. Organized into seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the elements of decision theory that are similar to those of the theory of games. This text then examines the main theorems of decision theory that involve two more notions, namely the admissibility of a decision rule and the completeness of a class of decision rules. Other chapters consider the development of theorems in decision theory that are valid in general situations. This book discusses as well the invariance principle that involves groups of transformations over the three spaces around which decision theory is built. The final chapter deals with sequential decision problems. This book is a valuable resource for first-year graduate students in mathematics.

The theory and practice of decision making involves infinite or finite number of actions. The decision rules with a finite number of elements in the action space are the so-called multiple decision procedures. Several approaches to problems of multi ple decisions have been developed; in particular, the last decade has witnessed a phenomenal growth of this field. An important aspect of the recent contributions is the attempt by several authors to formalize these problems more in the framework of general decision theory. In this work, we have applied general decision theory to develop some modified principles which are reasonable for problems in this field. Our comments and contributions have been written in a positive spirt and, hopefully, these will an impact on the future direction of research in this field. Using the various viewpoints and frameworks, we have emphasized recent developments in the theory of selection and ranking ~Ihich, in our opinion, provides one of the main tools in this field. The growth of the theory of selection and ranking has kept apace with great vigor as is evidenced by the publication of two recent books, one by Gibbons, Olkin and Sobel (1977), and the other by Gupta and Panchapakesan (1979). An earlier monograph by Bechhofer, Kiefer and Sobel (1968) had also provided some very interest ing work in this field.

This mono graph is intended for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course as weIl as for the researchers who want a compilation of developments in this rapidly growing field of operations research. This is a sequel to our previous work entitled "Multiple Objective Decision Making--Methods and Applications: A State-of-the-Art Survey," (No. 164 of the Lecture Notes). The literature on methods and applications of Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) has been reviewed and classified systematically. This study provides readers with a capsule look into the existing methods, their char acteristics, and applicability to analysis of MADM problems. The basic MADM concepts are defined and a standard notation is introduced in Part 11. Also introduced are foundations such as models for MADM, trans formation of attributes, fuzzy decision rules, and methods for assessing weight. A system of classifying seventeen major MADM methods is presented. These methods have been proposed by researchers in diversified disciplines; half of them are classical ones, but the other half have appeared recently. The basic concept, the computational procedure, and the characteristics of each of these methods are presented concisely in Part 111. The computational procedure of each method is illustrated by solving a simple numerical example. Part IV of the survey deals with the applications of these MADM methods.

Making decisions is a ubiquitous mental activity in our private and professional or public lives. It entails choosing one course of action from an available shortlist of options. Statistics for Making Decisions places decision making at the centre of statistical inference, proposing its theory as a new paradigm for statistical practice. The analysis in this paradigm is earnest about prior information and the consequences of the various kinds of errors that may be committed. Its conclusion is a course of action tailored to the perspective of the specific client or sponsor of the analysis. The author’s intention is a wholesale replacement of hypothesis testing, indicting it with the argument that it has no means of incorporating the consequences of errors which self-evidently matter to the client. The volume appeals to the analyst who deals with the simplest statistical problems of comparing two samples (which one has a greater mean or variance), or deciding whether a parameter is positive or negative. It combines highlighting the deficiencies of hypothesis testing with promoting a principled solution based on the idea of a currency for error, of which we want to spend as little as possible. This is implemented by selecting the option for which the expected loss is smallest (the Bayes rule). The price to pay is the need for a more detailed description of the options, and eliciting and quantifying the consequences (ramifications) of the errors. This is what our clients do informally and often inexpertly after receiving outputs of the analysis in an established format, such as the verdict of a hypothesis test or an estimate and its standard error. As a scientific discipline and profession, statistics has a potential to do this much better and deliver to the client a more complete and more relevant product. Nicholas T. Longford is a senior statistician at Imperial College, London, specialising in statistical methods for neonatal medicine. His interests include causal analysis of observational studies, decision theory, and the contest of modelling and design in data analysis. His longer-term appointments in the past include Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ, USA, de Montfort University, Leicester, England, and directorship of SNTL, a statistics research and consulting company. He is the author of over 100 journal articles and six other monographs on a variety of topics in applied statistics.

Decision theory is generally taught in one of two very different ways. When of opti taught by theoretical statisticians, it tends to be presented as a set of mathematical techniques mality principles, together with a collection of various statistical procedures. When useful in establishing the optimality taught by applied decision theorists, it is usually a course in Bayesian analysis, showing how this one decision principle can be applied in various practical situations. The original goal I had in writing this book was to find some middle ground. I wanted a book which discussed the more theoretical ideas and techniques of decision theory, but in a manner that was constantly oriented towards solving statistical problems. In particular, it seemed crucial to include a discussion of when and why the various decision prin ciples should be used, and indeed why decision theory is needed at all. This original goal seemed indicated by my philosophical position at the time, which can best be described as basically neutral. I felt that no one approach to decision theory (or statistics) was clearly superior to the others, and so planned a rather low key and impartial presentation of the competing ideas. In the course of writing the book, however, I turned into a rabid Bayesian. There was no single cause for this conversion; just a gradual realization that things seemed to ultimately make sense only when looked at from the Bayesian viewpoint.

An encyclopaedic coverage of the literature in the area of ranking and selection procedures. It also deals with the estimation of unknown ordered parameters. This book can serve as a text for a graduate topics course in ranking and selection. It is also a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners.