answer the following two simple stats problems concerning pivotal quantities and

confidence intervals: (1.) Let Y have a probability density function f(y) = [2(-y)]/
(^2), for 0<y< 0, elsewhere a) show that Y has distribution function F(y) = 0, for
y0, (2y/)-(y^2/^2), for 0<y< 1, for y b) Show that Y/ is a pivotal quantity c)
Use the pivotal quantity from part (b) to find a 90% lower confidence limit for .

(2.) Suppose that Y is a single observation from an exponential distribution with

mean . a)Use the method of moment generating functions to show that 2Y/ is a
pivotal quantity and has a chi-squared distribution with 2 degrees of freedom. b)use
the pivotal quantity 2Y/ to derive the 90% confidence interval for .

2 ( y )
f ( y )= 2
, 0< y <

y y y

F ( y )= f ( x ) dx=
0 0
2 (x )
2 [2
dx= 2 x

x2 2
] (
= y
2 0 2
y2 2 y y2
2 )
= 2 , 0< y <

y
Let
z=

The density of z is

g ( z ) =f ( y ) |dydz|=( 2 ( y ) ) =2(1 y )=2( 1z ) , 0< z <1

2

y
Since g (z ) is independent of , z= is a pivotal quantity.

The distribution function of z is

z z 2
G ( z )= g ( t ) dt= 2 ( 1t ) dt=2 z
0 0
( ) z
2
=2 zz 2 , 0< z <1

Let
z 1 and z 2 be such that G ( z1 ) =0.05 and
G ( z2 ) =0.95 .

2
2 z 1z 1 =0.05
 2
z 1 2 z 1 +0.05=0

2 40.2 2 3.8
z 1= = =0.0253,1.997
2 2

The value of
z 1 is 0.0253

2 z 2z 22=0.95

2
z 2 2 z 2 +0.95=0

2 43.80 2 0.20
z 2= = =0.7764,1 .2236
2 2

The value of
z 2 is 0.7764

P ( z1 z z 2 ) =0.90

y
(
P z1 )
z =0.90
2

P ( zy zy )=0.90
2 1

y y
The 90% confidence interval based on a sample of size 1 is ( 0.7764 ,
0.0253 )