Nonparametric likelihood ratio goodness-of-fit tests for survival data

Berk and Jones (Z. Wahrsch. Verw. Gebiete 47 (1979) 47) described a nonparametric likelihood test of uniformity that is more efficient, in Bahadur's sense, than any weighted Kolmogorov-Smirnov test at any alternative. This article shows how to obtain a nonparametric likelihood test of a general parametric family for incomplete survival data. A nonparametric likelihood ratio test process is employed to measure the discrepancy between a parametric family and the observed data. Large sample properties of the likelihood ratio test process are studied under both the null and alternative hypotheses. A Monte Carlo simulation method is proposed to estimate its null distribution. We show how to produce a likelihood ratio graphical check as well as a formal test of a parametric family based on the developed theory. Our method is developed for the right-censorship model, but can be easily extended to some other survival models. Illustrations are given using both real and simulated data.