Topic summary

Prediction interval

Prediction interval

Estimate of an interval in which future observations will fall In statistical inference, specifically predictive inference, a prediction interval is an estimate of an interval in which a future observation will fall, with a certain probability, given what has already been observed. Prediction intervals are often used in regression analysis. A simple example is given by a six-sided dice with face values ranging from 1 to 6. The confidence interval for the estimated expected value of the face value will be around 3.5 and will become narrower with a larger sample size. However, the prediction interval for the next roll will approximately range from 1 to 6, even with any number of sampling points seen so far. Prediction intervals are used in both frequentist statistics and Bayesian statistics: a prediction interval bears the same relationship to a future observation that a frequentist confidence interval or Bayesian credible interval bears to an unobservable population parameter: prediction intervals predict the distribution of individual future points, whereas confidence intervals and credible intervals of parameters predict the distribution of estimates of the true population mean or