Abstract
Ranked set sampling is a very useful method to collect data when the actual measurement of the units in a population is difficult or expensive. Recently, the generalized quasi-Lindley distribution is suggested as a new continuous lifetime distribution. In this article, the ranked set sampling method is considered to estimate the parameters of the generalized quasi-Lindley distribution. Several estimation methods are used, including the maximum likelihood, the maximum product of spacings, ordinary least squares, weighted least squares, Cramer–von Mises, and Anderson–Darling methods. The performance of the proposed ranked set sampling based estimators is achieved through a simulation study in terms of bias and mean squared errors compared to the simple random sample. Additional results are obtained based on real data for the survival times of 72 guinea pigs and 23 ball bearings. The simulation study results and the real data applications showed the superiority of the proposed ranked set sampling estimators compared to the simple random sample competitors based on the same number of measuring units.