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I am using the bootstrap to calculate 95% confidence intervals for the median of a population. The data can only take positive integer values. My sample indicates a fair bit of variability, though the data are definitely clustered around a single value close (but not equal to) zero.

Under these circumstances, can bootstrapping the median go wrong? I have seen warnings against bootstrapping statistics when the population is either discrete or asymmetric, but I have yet to see any good explanation why these properties would cause the bootstrap to fail/malfunction.

Thanks!

holomorph32
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  • There are some situations where the bootstrap doesn't work well but not because a distribution may be discrete or skewed. – Michael R. Chernick Jul 14 '19 at 21:39
  • Without knowing more about the distribution of your data it is hard to judge. Note that the breakdown point of the median is 0.5, which could in some circumstances lead to practical problems with bootstrapping even the median. Please look at this answer to a similar question, and its links, and edit this question with more information on your data while specifying particular issues that are still unresolved. – EdM Jul 14 '19 at 21:45

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