Nonparametric predictive comparison of lifetime data under progressive censoring

In reliability and lifetime testing, comparison of two groups of data is a common problem. It is often attractive, or even necessary, to make a quick and efficient decision in order to save time and costs. This paper presents a nonparametric predictive inference (NPI) approach to compare two groups, say X and Y, when one (or both) is (are) progressively censored. NPI can easily be applied to different types of progressive censoring schemes. NPI is a statistical approach based on few assumptions, with inferences strongly based on data and with uncertainty quantified via lower and upper probabilities. These inferences consider the event that the lifetime of a future unit from Y is greater than the lifetime of a future unit from X.