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- Articles by Grossman, M.
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AN APPROXIMATION OF THE MINIMUM-VARIANCE ESTIMATOR OF HERITABILITY BASED ON VARIANCE COMPONENT ANALYSIS
M. Grossman 1 and H. W. Norton 1
1 Departments of Dairy Science and Animal Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801
An approximate minimum-variance estimate of heritability (h2) is proposed, using the sire and dam components of variance from a hierarchical analysis of variance. The minimum sampling variance is derived for unbalanced data. Optimum structures for the estimation of h2 are given for the balanced case. The degree to which 
2 is more precise than the equally weighted estimate 2S+D is a function of the size and structure of the sample used. However, computer simulation reveals that 2 has less desirable behavior than 2S+D. An iterative procedure improved the estimation of h2, especially in small populations, when those values of 2S or 2D outside the range of the parameter were constrained to zero or unity.