Censored life-data analysis using linguistic variables

Parameter estimates for censored life data using ordinary censoring methods (noninformative censoring) can be biased when the cause of censoring for a unit is related to its final life (informative censoring). An algorithm is presented for obtaining estimated lifetimes for informatively censored units. It is based on linguistic variable concepts from fuzzy set theory. These estimates are combined with the lifetimes for actual field units to form a complete sample for parameter estimation purposes