Estimation of probability characteristics by generalized Bernstein polynomials

Approximations based on Bernstein polynomials are used for smoothing a sample quantile function and estimating the underlying distribution and its characteristics. Generalized Bernstein-type polynomials are introduced to reduce the bias of estimation under various types of distributions including finite distributions. The asymptotic behavior of the expectations of these estimators is studied. Bibliography: 10 titles.Published in Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 294, 2002, pp. 127–138.