focused on the negative binomial dispersion parameter , k.
A substantial literature exists on the estimation of k ,
The negative binomial distribution is used commonly throughout biology as a model for overdispersed count data , with attention focused on the negative binomial dispersion parameter , k.
A substantial literature exists on the estimation of k , but most attention has focused on datasets that are not highly overdispersed ( i.e. , those with k$1 ) , and the accuracy of confidence intervals estimated for k is typically not explored .