The Geometric and the Bradford Distributions: A Comparison
Name
OR-049-76.pdf
Size
1.26 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e0421b2b5c7af01533a8212378a0f045
Author(s)
Morse, Philip M., 1903-
Date Issued
February 1976
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Operations Research Center
Series/Report no.
Operations Research Center Working Paper;OR 049-76
Abstract
Both the geometric and the Bradford probability distributions are used to describe collections of items of interest in information science. Each unit item has a productivity, an integer n measuring the amount of use of the item. The cumulative fraction Fn of items with productivity equal to n or greates may be expressed as a function of n or else as a function of the cumulative mean productivity Gn of items with productivity equal to n or greater. If Fn is an exponential function of n, the distribution is geometric; if it is an exponential function of Gn, it is a Bradford distribution. The exact solution of Fn as a function of n for the Bradford distribution is computed; the results are tabulated. Graphs are given, comparing the two distributions, and their relative usefulness is discussed.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Operations Research Center
Persistent DSpace Link
