Abstract
We demonstrate that it is possible to calculate not only the mean of an underlying population but also its dispersion, given only a single observation and physically reasonable constraints (i.e., that the quantities under consideration are non-negative and bounded). We suggest that this counterintuitive conclusion is in fact at the heart of most modeling of astronomical data.
Author
Madore, Barry F.
Journal
Astronomical Journal
Paper Publication Date
May 2010
Paper Type
Astrostatistics