ABSTRACT
In this chapter, a unified approach to the construction of symmetric multivariate distributions is presented. This approach provides the reader with clear guidelines for developing the theory of symmetric multivariate distributions. This first section deals with these matters. Sections 1.2 and 1.3 deal with notation and some of the mathematical tools required in what follows. Finally, in Section 1.4 we present a fairly complete discussion of the Dirichlet distribution which is an important multivariate distribution on its own as well as a useful tool for the development of other classes of multivariate distributions.
