A GENERALIZATION OF THE WEIBULL DISTRIBUTION WITH APPLICATION TO THE ANALYSIS OF SURVIVAL

The Weibull distribution, which is frequently used for modeling surviv al data, is embedded in a larger family obtained by introducing an add itional shape parameter. This generalized family not only contains dis tributions with unimodal and bathtub hazard shapes, but also allows fo r a broader class of monotone hazard rates. Furthermore, the distribut ions in this family are analytically tractable and computationally man ageable. The modeling and analysis of survival data using this family is discussed and illustrated in terms of a lifetime dataset and the re sults of a two-arm clinical trial.