Asymptotic Tools

Catalog description

A rigorous but non-measure-theoretic introduction to statistical large-sample theory for Ph.D. students. STAT 553 Asymptotic Tools (3) STAT 553 covers most standard statistical asymptotics theory but does not require any knowledge of measure theory (it does not define convergence with probability one, for example). It covers convergence of random variables in both the univariate and multivariate settings, Slutsky's theorem(s) and the delta method, the Lindeberg-Feller central limit theorem, power and sample size, likelihood-based estimation and testing, and U-statistics. Although there is no measure theory in the course, it is a mathematically rigorous course and major results are proved. Many common applications of the theory in mathematical statistics are discussed, and most assignments require the use of a computer.