This function aims to find a possible distribution that would give rise to the observed sample parameters. For that, you need to pass a list of parameters, best created with set_parameters

find_possible_distribution(parameters, seed = NULL, values_only = FALSE)

Arguments

parameters

List of parameters, see set_parameters

seed

An integer to use as the seed for random number generation. Set this in scripts to ensure reproducibility. Explicit seeds leave the caller's random number generator state unchanged.

values_only

Should only values or a more informative list be returned. See Value section.

Value

Unless values_only = TRUE, a list with:

outcome

success or failure - character

values

The distribution that was found (if success) / whose SD came closest to the target during the search (if failure) - numeric

mean

The exact mean of the distribution - numeric

sd

The SD of the distribution that was found (success) / that came closest (failure) - numeric

iterations

The number of SD adjustments attempted; zero if the initial candidate succeeds. On failure, this is the total attempted, even if the closest candidate was found earlier.

If values_only = TRUE, then the distribution is returned if one was found, and NULL if it failed.

Details

A successful search supplies one compatible reconstruction. Search failure does not prove impossibility, and the frequencies with which reconstructions are found do not estimate probabilities for the original data. Rounding ties are accepted in either direction.

Examples

sprite_parameters <- set_parameters(mean = 2.2, sd = 1.3, n_obs = 20,
                                    min_val = 1, max_val = 5)
find_possible_distribution(sprite_parameters)
#> $outcome
#> [1] "success"
#> 
#> $values
#>  [1] 5 1 4 1 1 2 4 3 1 1 3 3 1 2 2 2 4 1 1 1
#> 
#> $mean
#> [1] 2.15
#> 
#> $sd
#> [1] 1.308877
#> 
#> $iterations
#> [1] 4
#>