A general framework for model-based statistics

Abstract

This paper presents a general framework for model-based statistics. The framework is based on extended concepts of sufficiency and ancillarity. The fundamental theorem of the new theory exhibits in a single equation the reference distributions for decision theory, model checking, and conditional inference for a general statistical model. The theorem includes the equations upon which Bayesian and frequentist statistics are founded. The general theory also fills two gaps previously missing from empirical Bayesian statistics: concepts of sufficiency and conditional inference.