Bayes Factors. Kass, R. E. & Raftery, A. E. J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 90(430):773–795, 1995.
abstract   bibtex   
In a 1935 paper and in his book Theory of probability, Jeffresy developed a methodology for quantifying the evidence in favor of a scientific theory. The centerpies was a number, now called the Bayes factor, which is the posterior odds of the null hypothesis when the prior probability on the null is one-half. Although there has been much discussion of Bayesian hypothesis testing in the context of criticism of P-values, less attention has been given to the Bayes as a practical tool of applied statistics. In this article we review and discuss the uses of Bayes factors in the context of five scientific applications in genetics, sports, ecology, sociology, and psychology. We emphasize the following points: From Jeffrey's Bayesian viewpoint, the purpose of hypothesis testing is to evaluate the evidence in favor of a scientific theory. Bayes factors offer a way of evaluating evidence in favor of a null hypothesis. Bayes factors provide a way of incorporating external information into the evaluation of evidence about a hypothesis. Bayes factors are very general and do not require alternative models to be nested. Several techniques are available for computing Bayes factors, including asymptotic approximations that are easy to compute using the output from standard packages that maximize likelihoods. In "non-Bayesian significance tests. The Schwarz criterion (or BIC) gives a rough approximation to the logarithm of the Bayes factor, which is easy to use and does not require evaluation of prior distributions. When one is interested in estimation or prediction, Bayes factors may be converted to weights to be attached to various models so that a composite estimate or prediction may be obtained that takes account of structural or model uncertainty. Algorithms have been proposed that allow model uncertainty to be taken into account when the class of models initially considered is very large. Bayes factors are useful for guiding an evolutionary model-building process. It is important, and feasible, to assess the sensitivity of conclusions to the prior distributions used.
@Article{Kass1995,
  author   = {Kass, Robert E. and Raftery, Adrian E.},
  journal  = {J. Am. Stat. Assoc.},
  title    = {Bayes Factors},
  year     = {1995},
  number   = {430},
  pages    = {773--795},
  volume   = {90},
  abstract = {In a 1935 paper and in his book Theory of probability, Jeffresy developed
	a methodology for quantifying the evidence in favor of a scientific
	theory. The centerpies was a number, now called the Bayes factor,
	which is the posterior odds of the null hypothesis when the prior
	probability on the null is one-half. Although there has been much
	discussion of Bayesian hypothesis testing in the context of criticism
	of P-values, less attention has been given to the Bayes as a practical
	tool of applied statistics. In this article we review and discuss
	the uses of Bayes factors in the context of five scientific applications
	in genetics, sports, ecology, sociology, and psychology. We emphasize
	the following points: From Jeffrey's Bayesian viewpoint, the purpose
	of hypothesis testing is to evaluate the evidence in favor of a scientific
	theory. Bayes factors offer a way of evaluating evidence in favor
	of a null hypothesis. Bayes factors provide a way of incorporating
	external information into the evaluation of evidence about a hypothesis.
	Bayes factors are very general and do not require alternative models
	to be nested. Several techniques are available for computing Bayes
	factors, including asymptotic approximations that are easy to compute
	using the output from standard packages that maximize likelihoods.
	In "non-Bayesian significance tests. The Schwarz criterion (or BIC)
	gives a rough approximation to the logarithm of the Bayes factor,
	which is easy to use and does not require evaluation of prior distributions.
	When one is interested in estimation or prediction, Bayes factors
	may be converted to weights to be attached to various models so that
	a composite estimate or prediction may be obtained that takes account
	of structural or model uncertainty. Algorithms have been proposed
	that allow model uncertainty to be taken into account when the class
	of models initially considered is very large. Bayes factors are useful
	for guiding an evolutionary model-building process. It is important,
	and feasible, to assess the sensitivity of conclusions to the prior
	distributions used.},
}

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