Weighted Distributions
G. P. Patil · Encyclopedia of Biostatistics · 2005
Abstract Traditional environmetric theory and practice have been occupied largely with randomization and replication. But in environmental and ecological work, observations also fall in the nonexperimental, nonreplicated, and nonrandom categories. The problems of model specification and data interpretation then acquire special importance and great concern. The theory of weighted distributions provides a unifying approach for these problems. Weighted distributions take into account the method of ascertainment, by adjusting the probabilities of actual occurrence of events, to arrive at a specification of the probabilities of those events as observed and recorded. Failure to make such adjustments can lead to incorrect conclusions.