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Q36Section I (Objective (Q1–Q80))36 of 80

MLE vs. unbiased estimators of σ2\sigma^2 in N(μ,σ2)N(\mu,\sigma^2)

Let x1,x2,…,xnx_1,x_2,\dots,x_n be a random sample from N(μ,σ2)N(\mu,\sigma^2); −∞<μ<∞,σ2>0-\infty<\mu<\infty, \sigma^2>0, where both μ\mu and σ2\sigma^2 are unknown. Which of the following statements are correct?

I. μ^=xˉ\hat\mu=\bar x and σ^2=1n∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2\hat\sigma^2=\dfrac1n\sum_{i=1}^n(x_i-\bar x)^2 maximize the likelihood function L(μ,σ2;x)L(\mu,\sigma^2;x).

II. μ^=xˉ\hat\mu=\bar x and S2=1n−1∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2S^2=\dfrac1{n-1}\sum_{i=1}^n(x_i-\bar x)^2 maximize the likelihood function L(μ,σ2;x)L(\mu,\sigma^2;x).

III. σ^2=1n∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2\hat\sigma^2=\dfrac1n\sum_{i=1}^n(x_i-\bar x)^2 is an unbiased estimator of σ2\sigma^2.

IV. S2=1n−1∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2S^2=\dfrac1{n-1}\sum_{i=1}^n(x_i-\bar x)^2 is an unbiased estimator of σ2\sigma^2.

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