Fitting the Poisson Binomial Distribution

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A simplified procedure for obtaining maximum likelihood estimates and computing the probabilities in the fitting of the Poisson binomial distribution is presented. A table of ratios of factorial moments of an appropriately defined Poisson variable is provided which enables the computations for obtaining the estimates and probabilities to be considerably simplified and shortened. A simple example is included to illustrate the computational procedure. The technique is also extended to permit fitting the truncated Poisson binomial distribution where the zero class is missing.