Applied Statistical Decision Theory

This volume presents Raiffa and Schlaifer's groundbreaking examination of the applications of Bayesian statistical theory to real-life business problems of decision under conditions of uncertainty. The emphasis is on identifying a course of action that is logically consistent with the decision maker's own preference for consequences, as expressed by numerical utilities, and with the weight s/he attaches to unknown variables, as expressed by numerical probabilities. * Well-organized with self-contained chapters, suitable for both complete and selected study of topics. * Clear outline format and detailed table of contents allows for easy referencing. From the reviews: . "Raiffa and Schlaifer have contributed a major work and a major stimulus to further work. I hope especially that mathematical statisticians will read it and be encouraged to develop the fascinating lines of research that are suggested by it. I recommend it strongly to all statisticians seriously interested in applying statistics to real problems."--ASA Journal. "There is no comparable book. It should have an important effect on the future development of the subject."--Mathematical Reviews.