Selection and Ranking Procedures–Some Personal Reminiscences, and Thoughts about its Past, Present, and Future

SYNOPTIC ABSTRACT

This invited article is written in connection with the 30th anniversary of the first published papers on selection and ranking procedures. Special emphasis is placed on the indifference-zone approach. The factors leading to this author's involvement in research in this area, and the corresponding roles of other early research workers, are discussed. The philosophy of the author with respect to selection and ranking procedures is elucidated. Some key results involving the indifference-zone approach to selection problems for normal means and for Bernoulli “success” probabilities are discussed. The gap between theory and practice for selection procedures is considered, and possible ways of bridging the gap are proposed. Some unsolved problems are posed.

Key Words and Phrases:

• selection and ranking procedures
• indifference-zone approach
• history of the subject
• some key results
• theory vs. practice
• unsolved problems