Optimal designs for small Poisson regression experiments using second-order asymptotic

This paper considers the issue of obtaining the optimal design in Poisson regression model when the sample size is small. Poisson regression model is widely used for the analysis of count data. Asymptotic theory provides the basis for making inference on the parameters in this model. However, for small size experiments, asymptotic approximations, such as unbiasedness, may not be valid. Therefore, first, we employ the second order expansion of the bias of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and derive the mean square error (MSE) of MLE to measure the quality of an estimator. We then define DM-optimality criterion, which is based on a function of the MSE. This criterion is applied to obtain locally optimal designs for small size experiments. The effect of sample size on the obtained designs are shown. We also obtain locally DM-optimal designs for some special cases of the model.