Combining chains of Bayesian models with Markov melding

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Manderson, Andrew A., Goudie, Robert J. B.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917356983287808
author Manderson, Andrew A.
Goudie, Robert J. B.
author_facet Manderson, Andrew A.
Goudie, Robert J. B.
contents A challenge for practitioners of Bayesian inference is specifying a model that incorporates multiple relevant, heterogeneous data sets. It may be easier to instead specify distinct submodels for each source of data, then join the submodels together. We consider chains of submodels, where submodels directly relate to their neighbours via common quantities which may be parameters or deterministic functions thereof. We propose chained Markov melding, an extension of Markov melding, a generic method to combine chains of submodels into a joint model. One challenge we address is appropriately capturing the prior dependence between common quantities within a submodel, whilst also reconciling differences in priors for the same common quantity between two adjacent submodels. Estimating the posterior of the resulting overall joint model is also challenging, so we describe a sampler that uses the chain structure to incorporate information contained in the submodels in multiple stages, possibly in parallel. We demonstrate our methodology using two examples. The first example considers an ecological integrated population model, where multiple data sets are required to accurately estimate population immigration and reproduction rates. We also consider a joint longitudinal and time-to-event model with uncertain, submodel-derived event times. Chained Markov melding is a conceptually appealing approach to integrating submodels in these settings.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2111_11566
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Combining chains of Bayesian models with Markov melding
Manderson, Andrew A.
Goudie, Robert J. B.
Methodology
Applications
A challenge for practitioners of Bayesian inference is specifying a model that incorporates multiple relevant, heterogeneous data sets. It may be easier to instead specify distinct submodels for each source of data, then join the submodels together. We consider chains of submodels, where submodels directly relate to their neighbours via common quantities which may be parameters or deterministic functions thereof. We propose chained Markov melding, an extension of Markov melding, a generic method to combine chains of submodels into a joint model. One challenge we address is appropriately capturing the prior dependence between common quantities within a submodel, whilst also reconciling differences in priors for the same common quantity between two adjacent submodels. Estimating the posterior of the resulting overall joint model is also challenging, so we describe a sampler that uses the chain structure to incorporate information contained in the submodels in multiple stages, possibly in parallel. We demonstrate our methodology using two examples. The first example considers an ecological integrated population model, where multiple data sets are required to accurately estimate population immigration and reproduction rates. We also consider a joint longitudinal and time-to-event model with uncertain, submodel-derived event times. Chained Markov melding is a conceptually appealing approach to integrating submodels in these settings.
title Combining chains of Bayesian models with Markov melding
topic Methodology
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.11566