0
$\begingroup$

Suppose that $X_1, \ldots, X_n$ are iid from $N(\mu, 1)$. Find the conditional distribution of $X_1$ given $\bar{X}_n = \frac{1}{n}\sum^n_{i=1} X_i$.

So I know that $\bar{X}_n$ is a sufficient statistic for $\mu$ and $X_1$ is an unbiased estimator of $\mu$, but I don't know how to proceed from here?

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

4
$\begingroup$

Firstly, we need to find the joint distribution of $(X_1, \bar{X})$ (for simplicity, write $\bar{X}$ for $\bar{X}_n$). It is easily seen that \begin{equation} \begin{bmatrix} X_1 \\ \bar{X} \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ \frac{1}{n} & \frac{1}{n} & \cdots & \frac{1}{n} \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} X_1 \\ X_2 \\ \vdots \\ X_n \end{bmatrix}\tag{1} \end{equation} In view of $(1)$, $(X_1, \bar{X})$ has jointly normal distribution, with the mean vector \begin{align} \mu_0 = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ \frac{1}{n} & \frac{1}{n} & \cdots & \frac{1}{n} \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} \mu \\ \mu \\ \vdots \\ \mu \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} \mu \\ \mu \end{bmatrix}, \end{align} and the covariance matrix \begin{align} \Sigma = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ \frac{1}{n} & \frac{1}{n} & \cdots & \frac{1}{n} \end{bmatrix} I \begin{bmatrix} 1 & \frac{1}{n} \\ 0 & \frac{1}{n} \\ \vdots & \vdots \\ 0 & \frac{1}{n} \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & \frac{1}{n} \\ \frac{1}{n} & \frac{1}{n} \end{bmatrix}. \end{align}

Now according to conditional distributions of a MVN distribution: $X_1 | \bar{X} \sim N(\mu_1, \sigma_1^2),$ where \begin{align} & \mu_1 = \mu + \frac{1}{n}\times n \times (\bar{X} - \mu) = \bar{X}, \\ & \sigma_1^2 = 1 - \frac{1}{n}\times n \times\frac{1}{n} = 1 - \frac{1}{n}. \end{align}

$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.