German Tank Problem
In the statistical theory of estimation, the problem of estimating the maximum of a discrete uniform distribution from sampling without replacement, is known, in the English-speaking world, as the German tank problem, due to its application in World War II to the estimation of the number of German tanks.
The analyses illustrate the difference between frequentist inference and Bayesian inference.
Estimating the population maximum based on a single sample yields divergent results, while the estimation based on multiple samples is an instructive practical estimation question whose answer is simple but not obvious.
Read more about German Tank Problem: Example, Historical Problem, Bayesian Analysis
Famous quotes containing the words german and/or problem:
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“It is part of the educator’s responsibility to see equally to two things: First, that the problem grows out of the conditions of the experience being had in the present, and that it is within the range of the capacity of students; and, secondly, that it is such that it arouses in the learner an active quest for information and for production of new ideas. The new facts and new ideas thus obtained become the ground for further experiences in which new problems are presented.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)