I came across a problem and I think it is unsolvable, but I would like to make sure that this is the case. Let consider a sample: $$ X_1, X_2, ... X_n \sim NB(r_i, p). $$ Therefore I know that observations share $p$ parameter, but each observation $X_i$ can have a different $r_i$. I do not know anything about $r_i$. Is it possible to estimate the common parameter $p$? I do not need to estimate $r_i$. I tried to find maximum likelihood estimator (forgetting that $r_i$ differs through the sample) and retrieve $p$, but it gives wrong result. Here I assume that $p=0.2$. ``` r <- rgamma(1000, 3,0.1) x <- sapply(r, function(x) rnbinom(1, size=x, p=0.2)) library(MASS) par.nb<- fitdistr(x, "negative binomial") par.nb$estimate size <- par.nb$estimate[1] mu <- par.nb$estimate[2] p_est <-size/(mu+size) p_est ``` But $p\_est = 0.02085524$ Any suggestions?