An Approximation to the Negative Moments of the Positive Binomial Useful in Life Testing

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to obtain the mean and variance of the maximum likelihood estimator of the scale parameter of a Weibull distribution where the sample is censored at a fixed time. It will be shown that these moments are functions of the negative moments of the positive binomial distribution. A simple approximation is obtained for the negative moments of the positive binomial, thus giving an approximate expression for the mean and variance of the estimator.