calculate the rate parameter: exponential distribution

Question

I have a set of values which follows exponential distribution. Now, I want to calculate the rate parameter alpha. Can anybody help me how to calculate it (I am using c++ to code it)?

Answer 1

If you know these values are from an exponential distribution, then you can calculate the maximum likelihood of λ (lambda, not alpha) as the average of 1 / value for each of these values (because the mean of the exponential distribution is 1 / λ). this is a statistical calculation, since you are trying to assess a parameter through observation.