This thesis considers two related problems that has application in the field of experimental design for clinical trials: • fixed sample size determination for parallel arm, double-blind survival data analysis to test the hypothesis of no difference in survival functions, and • blinded sample size re-estimation for the same. For the first problem of fixed sample size determination, a method is developed generally for testing of hypothesis, then applied particularly to survival analysis; for the second problem of blinded sample size re-estimation, a method is developed specifically for survival analysis. In both problems, the exponential survival model is assumed. The approach we propose for sample size determination is Bayesian decision theoretical, using explicitly a loss function and a prior distribution. The loss function used is the intrinsic discrepancy loss function introduced by Bernardo and Rueda (2002), and further expounded upon in Bernardo (2011). We use a conjugate prior, and investigate the sensitivity of the calculated sample sizes to specification of the hyper-parameters. For the second problem of blinded sample size re-estimation, we use prior predictive distributions to facilitate calculation of the interim test statistic in a blinded manner while controlling the Type I error. The determination of the test statistic in a blinded manner continues to be nettling problem for researchers. The first problem is typical of traditional experimental designs, while the second problem extends into the realm of adaptive designs. To the best of our knowledge, the approaches we suggest for both problems have never been done hitherto, and extend the current research on both topics. The advantages of our approach, as far as we see it, are unity and coherence of statistical procedures, systematic and methodical incorporation of prior knowledge, and ease of calculation and interpretation. / Statistics
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/735 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Banton, Dwaine Stephen |
| Contributors | Sobel, Marc J., Zhao, Zhigen, Han, Xu, Carides, Alexandra, Anni, Eleni |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 113 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/717, Theses and Dissertations |
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