A novel trace test for the mean parameters in a multivariate growth curve model

A trace test for the mean parameters of the growth curve model is proposed. It is constructed using the restricted maximum likelihood followed by an estimated likelihood ratio approach. The statistic reduces to the Lawley-Hotelling trace test for the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) models. Our test statistic is, therefore, a natural extension of the classical trace test to GMANOVA models. We show that the distribution of the test under the null hypothesis does not depend on the unknown covariance matrix Σ. We also show that the distributions under the null and alternative hypotheses can be represented as sums of weighted central and non-central chi-square random variables, respectively. Under the null hypothesis, the Satterthwaite approximation is used to get an approximate critical point. A novel Satterthwaite type approximation is proposed to obtain an approximate power. A simulation study is performed to evaluate the performance of our proposed test and numerical examples are provided as illustrations.     

A test for elliptical symmetry

This paper presents a statistic for testing the hypothesis of elliptical symmetry. The statistic also provides a specialized test of multivariate normality. We obtain the asymptotic distribution of this statistic under the null hypothesis of multivariate normality, and give a bootstrapping procedure for approximating the null distribution of the statistic under an arbitrary elliptically symmetric distribution. We present simulation results to examine the accuracy of the asymptotic distribution and the performance of the bootstrapping procedure. Finally, for selected alternatives, we compare the power of our test statistic with that of recently proposed tests for elliptical symmetry given by Manzotti et al. [A statistic for testing the null hypothesis of elliptical symmetry, J. Multivariate Anal. 81 (2002) 274-285] and Schott [Testing for elliptical symmetry in covariance-matrix-based analyses, Statist. Probab. Lett. 60 (2002) 395-404], and with that of the well known tests for multivariate normality of Mardia [Measures of multivariate skewness and kurtosis with applications, Biometrika 57 (1970) 519-530] and Baringhaus and Henze [A consistent test for multivariate normality based on the empirical characteristic function, Metrika 35 (1988) 339-348].     

The likelihood ratio test for homogeneity in bivariate normal mixtures

This paper investigates the asymptotic properties of the likelihood ratio statistic for testing homogeneity in a bivariate normal mixture model with known covariance. The asymptotic null distributions of the likelihood ratio statistic and a modified likelihood ratio statistic are obtained in explicit form. The distributions are identical. The results of a small simulation study to approximate the null distribution are presented.     

Likelihood ratio tests of correlated multivariate samples

We develop methods to compare multiple multivariate normally distributed samples which may be correlated. The methods are new in the context that no assumption is made about the correlations among the samples. Three types of null hypotheses are considered: equality of mean vectors, homogeneity of covariance matrices, and equality of both mean vectors and covariance matrices. We demonstrate that the likelihood ratio test statistics have finite-sample distributions that are functions of two independent Wishart variables and dependent on the covariance matrix of the combined multiple populations. Asymptotic calculations show that the likelihood ratio test statistics converge in distribution to central Chi-squared distributions under the null hypotheses regardless of how the populations are correlated. Following these theoretical findings, we propose a resampling procedure for the implementation of the likelihood ratio tests in which no restrictive assumption is imposed on the structures of the covariance matrices. The empirical size and power of the test procedure are investigated for various sample sizes via simulations. Two examples are provided for illustration. The results show good performance of the methods in terms of test validity and power.     

Estimation of normal covariance matrices parametrized by irreducible symmetric cones under Stein's loss

In this paper the problem of estimating a covariance matrix parametrized by an irreducible symmetric cone in a decision-theoretic set-up is considered. By making use of some results developed in a theory of finite-dimensional Euclidean simple Jordan algebras, Bartlett's decomposition and an unbiased risk estimate formula for a general family of Wishart distributions on the irreducible symmetric cone are derived; these results lead to an extension of Stein's general technique for derivation of minimax estimators for a real normal covariance matrix. Specification of the results to the multivariate normal models with covariances which are parametrized by complex, quaternion, and Lorentz types gives minimax estimators for each model.     

Testing nonparametric and semiparametric hypotheses in vector stationary processes

We propose a general nonparametric approach for testing hypotheses about the spectral density matrix of multivariate stationary time series based on estimating the integrated deviation from the null hypothesis. This approach covers many important examples from interrelation analysis such as tests for noncorrelation or partial noncorrelation. Based on a central limit theorem for integrated quadratic functionals of the spectral matrix, we derive asymptotic normality of a suitably standardized version of the test statistic under the null hypothesis and under fixed as well as under sequences of local alternatives. The results are extended to cover also parametric and semiparametric hypotheses about spectral density matrices, which includes as examples goodness-of-fit tests and tests for separability.     

Asymptotic expansions in mean and covariance structure analysis

Asymptotic expansions of the distributions of parameter estimators in mean and covariance structures are derived. The parameters may be common to, or specific in means and covariances of observable variables. The means are possibly structured by the common/specific parameters. First, the distributions of the parameter estimators standardized by the population asymptotic standard errors are expanded using the single- and the two-term Edgeworth expansions. In practice, the pivotal statistic or the Studentized estimator with the asymptotically distribution-free standard error is of interest. An asymptotic distribution of the pivotal statistic is also derived by the Cornish-Fisher expansion. Simulations are performed for a factor analysis model with nonzero factor means to see the accuracy of the asymptotic expansions in finite samples.     

The likelihood ratio tests for the dimensionality of regression coefficients

In this paper we give a unified derivation of the likelihood ratio (LR) statistics for testing the hypothesis on the dimensionality of regression coefficients under a usual MANOVA model. We also derive the LR statistics under a general MANOVA model and study their asymptotic null and nonnull distributions. Further it is shown that the test statistic used by Bartlett [4] for testing the hypothesis that the last p?k canonical correlations are all zero is the LR statistic.     

Asymptotics for testing hypothesis in some multivariate variance components model under non-normality

We consider the problem of deriving the asymptotic distribution of the three commonly used multivariate test statistics, namely likelihood ratio, Lawley-Hotelling and Bartlett-Nanda-Pillai statistics, for testing hypotheses on the various effects (main, nested or interaction) in multivariate mixed models. We derive the distributions of these statistics, both in the null as well as non-null cases, as the number of levels of one of the main effects (random or fixed) goes to infinity. The robustness of these statistics against departure from normality will be assessed.Essentially, in the asymptotic spirit of this paper, both the hypothesis and error degrees of freedom tend to infinity at a fixed rate. It is intuitively appealing to consider asymptotics of this type because, for example, in random or mixed effects models, the levels of the main random factors are assumed to be a random sample from a large population of levels.For the asymptotic results of this paper to hold, we do not require any distributional assumption on the errors. That means the results can be used in real-life applications where normality assumption is not tenable.As it happens, the asymptotic distributions of the three statistics are normal. The statistics have been found to be asymptotically null robust against the departure from normality in the balanced designs. The expressions for the asymptotic means and variances are fairly simple. That makes the results an attractive alternative to the standard asymptotic results. These statements are favorably supported by the numerical results.     

Multivariate analysis of variance with fewer observations than the dimension

In this article, we consider the problem of testing a linear hypothesis in a multivariate linear regression model which includes the case of testing the equality of mean vectors of several multivariate normal populations with common covariance matrix Σ, the so-called multivariate analysis of variance or MANOVA problem. However, we have fewer observations than the dimension of the random vectors. Two tests are proposed and their asymptotic distributions under the hypothesis as well as under the alternatives are given under some mild conditions. A theoretical comparison of these powers is made.     

Testing some covariance structures under a growth curve model

This paper considers three types of problems: (i) the problem of independence of two sets, (ii) the problem of sphericity of the covariance matrix Σ, and (iii) the problem of intraclass model for the covariance matrix Σ, when the column vectors of X are independently distributed as multivariate normal with covariance matrix Σ and E(X) = BξA,A and B being given matrices and ξ and Σ being unknown. These problems are solved by the likelihood ratio test procedures under some restrictions on the models, and the null distributions of the test statistics are established.     

On a new multivariate two-sample test

In this paper we propose a new test for the multivariate two-sample problem. The test statistic is the difference of the sum of all the Euclidean interpoint distances between the random variables from the two different samples and one-half of the two corresponding sums of distances of the variables within the same sample. The asymptotic null distribution of the test statistic is derived using the projection method and shown to be the limit of the bootstrap distribution. A simulation study includes the comparison of univariate and multivariate normal distributions for location and dispersion alternatives. For normal location alternatives the new test is shown to have power similar to that of the t- and T²-Test.     

Enhanced one-sided confidence regions for a multivariate location parameter

If a one-sided test for a multivariate location parameter is inverted, the resulting confidence region may have an unpleasant shape. In particular, if the null and alternative hypothesis are both composite and complementary, the confidence region usually does not resemble the alternative parameter region in shape, but rather a reflected version of the null parameter region.We illustrate this effect and show one possibility of obtaining confidence regions for the location parameter that are smaller and have a more suitable shape for the type of problems investigated. This method is based on the closed testing principle applied to a family of nested hypotheses.     

重复测量试验模型参数似然比检验及其功效分析

本文给出了在重复测量试验模型下, 当受试对象观测向量的协方差矩阵$\Sigma$为复合对称阵时,参数的似然比检验统计量; 给出该检验在原假设下的渐近零分布和在备择假设下的渐近非零分布;并就其功效进行了分析.     

Diagnostic checking for multivariate regression models

Diagnostic checking for multivariate parametric models is investigated in this article. A nonparametric Monte Carlo Test (NMCT) procedure is proposed. This Monte Carlo approximation is easy to implement and can automatically make any test procedure scale-invariant even when the test statistic is not scale-invariant. With it we do not need plug-in estimation of the asymptotic covariance matrix that is used to normalize test statistic and then the power performance can be enhanced. The consistency of NMCT approximation is proved. For comparison, we also extend the score type test to one-dimensional cases. NMCT can also be applied to diverse problems such as a classical problem for which we test whether or not certain covariables in linear model has significant impact for response. Although the Wilks lambda, a likelihood ratio test, is a proven powerful test, NMCT outperforms it especially in non-normal cases. Simulations are carried out and an application to a real data set is illustrated.     

Inference under functional proportional and common principal component models

In many situations, when dealing with several populations with different covariance operators, equality of the operators is assumed. Usually, if this assumption does not hold, one estimates the covariance operator of each group separately, which leads to a large number of parameters. As in the multivariate setting, this is not satisfactory since the covariance operators may exhibit some common structure. In this paper, we discuss the extension to the functional setting of the common principal component model that has been widely studied when dealing with multivariate observations. Moreover, we also consider a proportional model in which the covariance operators are assumed to be equal up to a multiplicative constant. For both models, we present estimators of the unknown parameters and we obtain their asymptotic distribution. A test for equality against proportionality is also considered.     

Asymptotic theory for maximum deviations of sample covariance matrix estimates

We consider asymptotic distributions of maximum deviations of sample covariance matrices, a fundamental problem in high-dimensional inference of covariances. Under mild dependence conditions on the entries of the data matrices, we establish the Gumbel convergence of the maximum deviations. Our result substantially generalizes earlier ones where the entries are assumed to be independent and identically distributed, and it provides a theoretical foundation for high-dimensional simultaneous inference of covariances.     

Partial sum process to check regression models with multiple correlated response: With an application for testing a change-point in profile data

We consider regression models with multiple correlated responses for each design point. Under the null hypothesis, a linear regression is assumed. For the least-squares residuals of this linear regression, we establish the limit of the partial sums. This limit is a projection on a certain subspace of the reproducing Kernel Hilbert space of a multivariate Brownian motion. Based on this limit, we propose a significance test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov type to test the null hypothesis and show that this result can be used to study a change-point problem in the case of linear profile data (panel data). We compare our proposed method, which does not rely on any distributional assumptions, with the likelihood ratio test in a simulation study.     

A high-dimensional test for the equality of the smallest eigenvalues of a covariance matrix

For the test of sphericity, Ledoit and Wolf [Ann. Statist. 30 (2002) 1081-1102] proposed a statistic which is robust against high dimensionality. In this paper, we consider a natural generalization of their statistic for the test that the smallest eigenvalues of a covariance matrix are equal. Some inequalities are obtained for sums of eigenvalues and sums of squared eigenvalues. These bounds permit us to obtain the asymptotic null distribution of our statistic, as the dimensionality and sample size go to infinity together, by using distributional results obtained by Ledoit and Wolf [Ann. Statist. 30 (2002) 1081-1102]. Some empirical results comparing our test with the likelihood ratio test are also given.     

Average projection type weighted Cramér-von Mises statistics for testing some distributions

This paper addresses the problem of testing goodness-of-fit for several important multivariate distributions: (Ⅰ) Uniform distribution on p-dimensional unit sphere; (Ⅱ) multivariate standard normal distribution; and (Ⅲ) multivariate normal distribution with unknown mean vector and covariance matrix. The average projection type weighted Cramér-yon Mises test statistic as well as estimated and weighted Cramér-von Mises statistics for testing distributions (Ⅰ), (Ⅱ) and (Ⅲ) are constructed via integrating projection direction on the unit sphere, and the asymptotic distributions and the expansions of those test statistics under the null hypothesis are also obtained. Furthermore, the approach of this paper can be applied to testing goodness-of-fit for elliptically contoured distributions.