ON THE BIAS AND SAMPLING VARIATION OF THE HARMONIC AVERAGE

Authors
JENSEN JL THOMAS SD CORBETT PWM
Citation
Jl. Jensen et al., ON THE BIAS AND SAMPLING VARIATION OF THE HARMONIC AVERAGE, Mathematical geology, 29(2), 1997, pp. 267-276
Citations number
12
Categorie Soggetti
Mathematical Method, Physical Science","Geosciences, Interdisciplinary","Mathematics, Miscellaneous
Journal title
Mathematical geology → ACNP
ISSN journal
08828121
Volume
29
Issue
2
Year of publication
1997
Pages
267 - 276
Database
ISI
SICI code
0882-8121(1997)29:2<267:OTBASV>2.0.ZU;2-R
Abstract
We derive the bias and sampling variation of the harmonic average. The se expressions, based on the lognormal distribution, are validated usi ng Monte Carlo and jackknife analysis of field data. The average has a positive bias. The sampling variation results suggest that, for moder ate to large sample sizes, the harmonic average is no more variable th an the arithmetic average if the medium is appropriately sampled.