Reliability demonstration test for a finite population

In many situations, we want to accept or reject a population with small or finite population size. In this paper, we will describe Bayesian and non-Ba yesian approaches for the reliability demonstration test based on the sampl es from a finite population. The Bayesian method is an approach that combin es prior experience with newer test data in the application of statistical tools for reliability quantification. When test time and/or sample quantity is limited, the Bayesian approach should be considered. In this paper, a n on-Bayesian reliability demonstration test is considered for both finite an d large population cases. The Bayesian approach with 'uniform' prior distri butions, Polya prior distributions, and sequential sampling is also present ed. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.