A FLEXIBLE FAMILY OF DISTRIBUTIONS BASED ON THE ALPHA POWER FAMILY OF DISTRIBUTIONS AND ITS APPLICATION TO SURVIVAL DATA

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a flexible family called the exponentiated alpha-power-G (EAP-G) family. The benefits of the proposed family include its analytical simplicity and its ability to confer flexibility to the baseline distributions in survival analysis. Based on the proposed approach, a three-parameter extension of the exponential distribution called the exponentiated alpha-power exponential (EAPE) distribution is studied in detail. Maximum likelihood is used to estimate the EAPE parameters, and its performance is evaluated via a simulation study. Furthermore, two real-world survival data are used to demonstrate the applicability and examine the flexibility of the proposed distribution. The EAPE distribution is compared to other competing generalizations of the exponential distribution. The real data analysis shows that the proposed model performed better among the competitors and could potentially be very adequate in describing and modeling a wide range of survival data.