By continuity of the cumulative distribution function and nonnegativity, ; strict increase and allow inversion for every . The probability integral transform follows fromThus is uniformly distributed on .
The order statistics arrange the sample increasingly: . Strict monotonicity means is the th order statistic of independent uniform variables. Its density isobtained by choosing the observations below and the above it. This is the beta distribution with parameters , soFor the given log-logistic distribution, rearrangement givesConsequently plot vertically against horizontally. Under a good fit, replacing by its plotting position gives an approximate straight line withThis is a diagnostic probability plot, rather than an assertion that the expectation of the nonlinear transformed order statistic equals that transformed plotting position. Positive observations occur almost surely under the model.
Probability plot 2026-10-31
A probability plot compares order statistics with plotting positions or model quantiles to diagnose whether a proposed probability distribution describes data. If the model can be transformed into a linear identity , plot against . Approximate linearity supports that model's shape; systematic curvature suggests a mismatch.
The plotting position comes from the exact mean of the th uniform order statistic, by the probability integral transform. It does not assert equality between the expectation of a nonlinear transformation and that transformation of the expectation. Fitted slope and intercept can estimate model parameters, but the visual plot alone is not a calibrated hypothesis test.