Definition
If a family of probability distributions is such that there is a parameter s (and other parameters θ) for which the cumulative distribution function satisfies
then s is called a scale parameter, since its value determines the "scale" or statistical dispersion of the probability distribution. If s is large, then the distribution will be more spread out; if s is small then it will be more concentrated.
If the probability density exists for all values of the complete parameter set, then the density (as a function of the scale parameter only) satisfies
where f is the density of a standardized version of the density.
An estimator of a scale parameter is called an estimator of scale.
Read more about this topic: Scale Parameter
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“Im beginning to think that the proper definition of Man is an animal that writes letters.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (18321898)
“The definition of good prose is proper words in their proper places; of good verse, the most proper words in their proper places. The propriety is in either case relative. The words in prose ought to express the intended meaning, and no more; if they attract attention to themselves, it is, in general, a fault.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (17721834)
“... we all know the wags definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)