Maximum-Likelihood Estimation of the Parameters of Gamma and Weibull Populations from Complete and from Censored Samples

Iterative procedures are given for joint maximum-likelihood estimation, from complete and censored samples, of the three parameters of Gamma and of Weibull populations. For each of these populations, the likelihood function is written down, and the three maximum-likelihood equations are obtained. In each case, simultaneous solution of these three equations would yield joint maximum-likelihood estimators for the three parameters. The iterative procedures proposed to solve the equations are applicable to the most general case, in which all three parameters are unknown, and also to special cases in which any one or any two of the parameters are known. Numerical examples are worked out in which the parameters are estimated from the first m failure times in simulated life tests of n items (m ≤ n), using data drawn from Gamma and Weibull populations, each with two different values of the shape parameter.