selectiongain (version 2.0.710)
A Tool for Calculation and Optimization of the Expected Gain
from Multi-Stage Selection
Description
Multi-stage selection is practiced in numerous fields of life
and social sciences and particularly in breeding. A special characteristic of
multi-stage selection is that candidates are evaluated in successive stages
with increasing intensity and effort, and only a fraction of the superior
candidates is selected and promoted to the next stage. For the optimum design
of such selection programs, the selection gain plays a crucial role. It can be
calculated by integration of a truncated multivariate normal (MVN) distribution.
While mathematical formulas for calculating the selection gain and the variance
among selected candidates were developed long time ago, solutions for numerical
calculation were not available. This package can also be used for optimizing
multi-stage selection programs for a given total budget and different costs of
evaluating the candidates in each stage.