Objective Bayesian analysis of the Frechet stress–strength model

Several reference priors and a general form of matching priors are derived for a stress–strength system, and it is concluded that none of the reference priors is a matching prior. The study shows that the matching prior performs better than Jeffreys prior and reference priors in meeting the target coverage probabilities.     

Objective Bayesian analysis for competing risks model with Wiener degradation phenomena and catastrophic failures

In this paper, the objective Bayesian method is applied to investigate the competing risks model involving both catastrophic and degradation failures. By modeling soft failure as the Wiener degradation process, and hard failures as a Weibull distribution, we obtain the noninformative priors (Jefferys prior and two reference priors) for the parameters. Moreover, we show that their posterior distributions have good properties and we propose Gibbs sampling algorithms for the Bayesian inference based on the Jefferys prior and two reference priors. Some simulation studies are conducted to illustrate the superiority of objective Bayesian method. Finally, we apply our methods to two real data examples and compare the objective Bayesian estimates with the other estimates.     

Objective Bayesian analysis for CAR models

Objective priors, especially reference priors, have been studied extensively for spatial data in the last decade. In this paper, we study objective priors for a CAR model. In particular, the properties of the reference prior and the corresponding posterior are studied. Furthermore, we show that the frequentist coverage probabilities of posterior credible intervals depend only on the spatial dependence parameter $\rho $ , and not on the regression coefficient or the error variance. Based on the simulation study for comparing the reference and Jeffreys priors, the performance of two reference priors is similar and better than the Jeffreys priors. One spatial dataset is used for illustration.     

Reference Bayesian analysis of inverse Gaussian degradation process

In this paper, objective Bayesian method is applied to analyze degradation model based on the inverse Gaussian process. Noninformative priors (Jefferys prior and two reference priors) for model parameters are obtained and their properties are discussed. Moreover, we propose a class of modified reference priors to remedy weaknesses of the usual reference priors and show that the modified reference priors not only have proper posterior distributions but also have probability matching properties for model parameters. Gibbs sampling algorithms for Bayesian inference based on the Jefferys prior and the modified reference priors are studied. Simulations are conducted to compare the objective Bayesian estimates with the maximum likelihood estimates and subjective Bayesian estimates and shows better performance of the objective method than the other two estimates especially for the case of small sample size. Finally, two real data examples are analyzed for illustration.     

Wavelet modeling of priors on triangles

Parameters in statistical problems often live in a geometry of certain shape. For example, count probabilities in a multinomial distribution belong to a simplex. For these problems, Bayesian analysis needs to model priors satisfying certain constraints imposed by the geometry. This paper investigates modeling of priors on triangles by use of wavelets constructed specifically for triangles. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that our modeling is flexible and is superior to the commonly used Dirichlet prior.     

Bayesian analysis of Birnbaum–Saunders distribution via the generalized ratio-of-uniforms method

This paper deals with the Bayesian inference for the parameters of the Birnbaum–Saunders distribution. We adopt the inverse-gamma priors for the shape and scale parameters because the continuous conjugate joint prior distribution does not exist and the reference prior (or independent Jeffreys’ prior) results in an improper posterior distribution. We propose an efficient sampling algorithm via the generalized ratio-of-uniforms method to compute the Bayesian estimates and the credible intervals. One appealing advantage of the proposed procedure over other sampling techniques is that it efficiently generates independent samples from the required posterior distribution. Simulation studies are conducted to investigate the behavior of the proposed method, and two real-data applications are analyzed for illustrative purposes.     

Bayesian reference analysis for Gaussian Markov random fields

Gaussian Markov random fields (GMRF) are important families of distributions for the modeling of spatial data and have been extensively used in different areas of spatial statistics such as disease mapping, image analysis and remote sensing. GMRFs have been used for the modeling of spatial data, both as models for the sampling distribution of the observed data and as models for the prior of latent processes/random effects; we consider mainly the former use of GMRFs. We study a large class of GMRF models that includes several models previously proposed in the literature. An objective Bayesian analysis is presented for the parameters of the above class of GMRFs, where explicit expressions for the Jeffreys (two versions) and reference priors are derived, and for each of these priors results on posterior propriety of the model parameters are established. We describe a simple MCMC algorithm for sampling from the posterior distribution of the model parameters, and study frequentist properties of the Bayesian inferences resulting from the use of these automatic priors. Finally, we illustrate the use of the proposed GMRF model and reference prior for studying the spatial variability of lip cancer cases in the districts of Scotland over the period 1975-1980.     

Noninformative Priors for Multivariate Linear Calibration

This paper derives a class of first order probability matching priors and a complete catalog of the reference priors for the general multivariate linear calibration problem. In an important special case, a complete characterization of first order probability matching priors is given, and a fairly general class of second order probability matching priors is also provided. Orthogonal transformations (1987, D. R. Cox and N. Reid, J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B49, 1–18) are found to facilitate the derivations. It turns out that under orthogonal parameterization, reference priors (including Jeffreys' prior) are first order probability matching priors for unidimensional multivariate linear calibration. Also, in univariate linear calibration, the prior of W. G. Hunter and W. F. Lamboy (1981, Technometrics23, 323–350) is a second order probability matching prior.     

Bayesian Analysis for Random Coefficient Regression Models Using Noninformative Priors

We apply Bayesian approach, through noninformative priors, to analyze a Random Coefficient Regression (RCR) model. The Fisher information matrix, the Jeffreys prior and reference priors are derived for this model. Then, we prove that the corresponding posteriors are proper when the number of full rank design matrices are greater than or equal to twice the number of regression coefficient parameters plus 1 and that the posterior means for all parameters exist if one more additional full rank design matrix is available. A hybrid Markov chain sampling scheme is developed for computing the Bayesian estimators for parameters of interest. A small-scale simulation study is conducted for comparing the performance of different noninformative priors. A real data example is also provided and the data are analyzed by a non-Bayesian method as well as Bayesian methods with noninformative priors.     

Testing Hypotheses About the Power Law Process Under Failure Truncation Using Intrinsic Bayes Factors

Conventional Bayes factors for hypotheses testing cannot typically accommodate the use of standard noninformative priors, as such priors are defined only up to arbitrary constants which affect the values of the Bayes factors. To circumvent this problem, Berger and Pericchi (1996, J. Amer. Statist. Assoc., 19, 109-122) introduced a new criterion called the Intrinsic Bayes Factor (IBF). In this paper, we use their methodology to test several hypotheses regarding the shape parameter of the power law process. Assuming that we have data from the process according to the failure-truncation sampling scheme, we derive the arithmetic and geometric IBF's using the reference priors. We deduce a set of intrinsic priors that correspond to these IBF's, as the observed number of failures tends to infinity. We then use these results to analyze an actual data set on the failures of an aircraft generator.     

Bayesian shrinkage prediction for the regression problem

We consider Bayesian shrinkage predictions for the Normal regression problem under the frequentist Kullback-Leibler risk function.Firstly, we consider the multivariate Normal model with an unknown mean and a known covariance. While the unknown mean is fixed, the covariance of future samples can be different from that of training samples. We show that the Bayesian predictive distribution based on the uniform prior is dominated by that based on a class of priors if the prior distributions for the covariance and future covariance matrices are rotation invariant.Then, we consider a class of priors for the mean parameters depending on the future covariance matrix. With such a prior, we can construct a Bayesian predictive distribution dominating that based on the uniform prior.Lastly, applying this result to the prediction of response variables in the Normal linear regression model, we show that there exists a Bayesian predictive distribution dominating that based on the uniform prior. Minimaxity of these Bayesian predictions follows from these results.     

Empirical likelihood-based subset selection for partially linear autoregressive models

Based on the empirical likelihood method, the subset selection and hypothesis test for parameters in a partially linear autoregressive model are investigated. We show that the empirical log-likelihood ratio at the true parameters converges to the standard chi-square distribution. We then present the definitions of the empirical likelihood-based Bayes information criteria （EBIC） and Akaike information criteria （EAIC）. The results show that EBIC is consistent at selecting subset variables while EAIC is not. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed empirical likelihood confidence regions have better coverage probabilities than the least square method, while EBIC has a higher chance to select the true model than EAIC.     

Reference priors for exponential families with simple quadratic variance function

Reference analysis is one of the most successful general methods to derive noninformative prior distributions. In practice, however, reference priors are often difficult to obtain. Recently developed theory for conditionally reducible natural exponential families identifies an attractive reparameterization which allows one, among other things, to construct an enriched conjugate prior. In this paper, under the assumption that the variance function is simple quadratic, the order-invariant group reference prior for the above parameter is found. Furthermore, group reference priors for the mean- and natural parameter of the families are obtained. A brief discussion of the frequentist coverage properties is also presented. The theory is illustrated for the multinomial and negative-multinomial family. Posterior computations are especially straightforward due to the fact that the resulting reference distributions belong to the corresponding enriched conjugate family. A substantive application of the theory relates to the construction of reference priors for the Bayesian analysis of two-way contingency tables with respect to two alternative parameterizations.     

Coverage Properties of One-Sided Intervals in the Discrete Case and Application to Matching Priors

We consider asymptotic coverage properties of one-sided posterior confidence intervals for discrete distributions, with a unidimensional parameter of interest and a nuisance parameter of arbitrary dimension. In this case, no higher order asymptotic expansion of the frequentist coverage for these intervals is established, unless some randomization is added. We study here the existence of such frequentist expansions and propose simple continuity corrections based on a uniform random vector. This helps in determining a family of matching priors for one sided intervals in the discrete case.     

Bayesian inference and life testing plans for generalized exponential distribution

Recently generalized exponential distribution has received considerable attentions. In this paper, we deal with the Bayesian inference of the unknown parameters of the progressively censored generalized exponential distribution. It is assumed that the scale and the shape parameters have independent gamma priors. The Bayes estimates of the unknown parameters cannot be obtained in the closed form. Lindley’s approximation and importance sampling technique have been suggested to compute the approximate Bayes estimates. Markov Chain Monte Carlo method has been used to compute the approximate Bayes estimates and also to construct the highest posterior density credible intervals. We also provide different criteria to compare two different sampling schemes and hence to find the optimal sampling schemes. It is observed that finding the optimum censoring procedure is a computationally expensive process. And we have recommended to use the sub-optimal censoring procedure, which can be obtained very easily. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to compare the performances of the different methods and one data analysis has been performed for illustrative purposes. This work was partially supported by a grant from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India     

BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF DATA WITH ONLY ONE FAILURE

The hearings of a certain type have their lives following a Weibull distribution. In a life test with 20 sets of bearings, only one set failed within the specified time, and none of the remainder failed even after the time of to estimate the reliabilWith a set of testing data like that in Table 1, it is required to estimate the reliability at the mission time, In this paper, we first use hierarchical Bayesian method of determine the prior distribution and the Bayesian estimates of various probabilities of failures, pi‘s, then use the method of least squares to estimate the parameters of the Weibull distribution and the reliability. Actual computation shows that the estimates so obtained are rather robust. And the results have been adopted for practical use.     

Quadrature Methods for Bayesian Optimal Design of Experiments With Nonnormal Prior Distributions

Many optimal experimental designs depend on one or more unknown model parameters. In such cases, it is common to use Bayesian optimal design procedures to seek designs that perform well over an entire prior distribution of the unknown model parameter(s). Generally, Bayesian optimal design procedures are viewed as computationally intensive. This is because they require numerical integration techniques to approximate the Bayesian optimality criterion at hand. The most common numerical integration technique involves pseudo Monte Carlo draws from the prior distribution(s). For a good approximation of the Bayesian optimality criterion, a large number of pseudo Monte Carlo draws is required. This results in long computation times. As an alternative to the pseudo Monte Carlo approach, we propose using computationally efficient Gaussian quadrature techniques. Since, for normal prior distributions, suitable quadrature techniques have already been used in the context of optimal experimental design, we focus on quadrature techniques for nonnormal prior distributions. Such prior distributions are appropriate for variance components, correlation coefficients, and any other parameters that are strictly positive or have upper and lower bounds. In this article, we demonstrate the added value of the quadrature techniques we advocate by means of the Bayesian D-optimality criterion in the context of split-plot experiments, but we want to stress that the techniques can be applied to other optimality criteria and other types of experimental designs as well. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

多源验前信息之下Bayes可靠性估计

本文考虑存在多源验前信息的情况，以二项分布为例，首先把各种验前信息化成不同的约束条件，并运用最大熵准则推导出各种验前信息所对应的验前分布，然后将这些分布综合成最终的验前分布，最后根据系统的寿命试验数据得出可靠性参数的验后分布并进行了Ｂａｙｅｓ推断，文中给出了仿真实例以说明方法的有效性。     

Objective bayesian analysis of the Yule–Simon distribution with applications

The Yule–Simon distribution is usually employed in the analysis of frequency data. As the Bayesian literature, so far, has ignored this distribution, here we show the derivation of two objective priors for the parameter of the Yule–Simon distribution. In particular, we discuss the Jeffreys prior and a loss-based prior, which has recently appeared in the literature. We illustrate the performance of the derived priors through a simulation study and the analysis of real datasets.     

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Reference分析最早由Bernardo(1979)提出的, Berger和Bernardo(1992a)做了进一步的发展. 而Berger 等(2001)提出了一个获得精确reference先验的方法, 它已经成为获取无信息先验的最成功的方法之一. 本文基于Berger等(2001)所提出的的算法, 研究了具有一般协方差结构的增长曲线模型的reference先验. 同时, 给出了相应结果的一些应用.