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Letter to the Editor: Fitting a folded normal distribution without EM

Iain L. MacDonald

The Annals of Applied Statistics · 2020 · Volume 14 · Issue 4

DOI: 10.1214/20-AOAS1410

Abstract

The problem of fitting a folded normal distribution by maximum likelihood has been described as ‘not straightforward’, and alternatives such as EM proposed. We suggest here that it is in fact straightforward to fit such a distribution by direct numerical maximization of the likelihood. We demonstrate this in an example. The relevant R code is included.

Keywords

EM algorithm, folded Normal distribution, likelihood, numerical maximization

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