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Re: st: RE: generate random sample
From
David Hoaglin <[email protected]>
To
[email protected]
Subject
Re: st: RE: generate random sample
Date
Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:47:52 -0500
Steve,
Isn't it simply a discrete distribution that has the values 1 through
5 with the indicated probabilities? And the aim is to generate three
random observations from that distribution?
David Hoaglin
On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 9:17 PM, Steve Samuels <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> Ning Li:
>
> Your example is too unrealistic and your question too vague for us to answer.
>
> Is N (population size) really 5? If so, then the "probability distribution" cannot be that of the population.
>
> If population N>5 and there are five "types" of population elements, with the distribution shown, then there is not enough information for Phil's (or anybody's) algorithm to work. Suppose Phil's algorithm draws a selection with x = 3. With the information you have provided, there is no way to link this selection to a specific population element.:
>
> But perhaps you want to draw the sample of n = 3 from N =5 with probability proportional to size, in which case the size measures can be arbitrary. But such size measures will rarely look like the proportions that you show.
>
> So please describe your problem better. .
>
>
> Steve
> [email protected]
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