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21.2: Estimating Posterior Distributions (Section 20.4)

  • Page ID
    8830
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    # create a table with results
    nResponders <- 64
    nTested <- 100
    
    drugDf <- tibble(
      outcome = c("improved", "not improved"),
      number = c(nResponders, nTested - nResponders)
    )

    Computing likelihood

    likeDf <-
      tibble(resp = seq(1,99,1)) %>%
      mutate(
        presp=resp/100,
        likelihood5 = dbinom(resp,100,.5),
        likelihood7 = dbinom(resp,100,.7),
        likelihood3 = dbinom(resp,100,.3)
    )
    
    ggplot(likeDf,aes(resp,likelihood5)) + 
      geom_line() +
      xlab('number of responders') + ylab('likelihood') +
      geom_vline(xintercept = drugDf$number[1],color='blue') +
      geom_line(aes(resp,likelihood7),linetype='dotted') +
      geom_line(aes(resp,likelihood3),linetype='dashed')

    file97.png

    Computing marginal likelihood

    # compute marginal likelihood
    likeDf <- 
      likeDf %>%
      mutate(uniform_prior = array(1 / n()))
    
    # multiply each likelihood by prior and add them up
    marginal_likelihood <- 
      sum(
        dbinom(
          x = nResponders, # the number who responded to the drug
          size = 100, # the number tested
          likeDf$presp # the likelihood of each response 
        ) * likeDf$uniform_prior
      )

    Comuting posterior

    bayesDf <-
      tibble(
        steps = seq(from = 0.01, to = 0.99, by = 0.01)
      ) %>%
      mutate(
        likelihoods = dbinom(
          x = nResponders, 
          size = 100, 
          prob = steps
        ),
        priors = dunif(steps) / length(steps),
        posteriors = (likelihoods * priors) / marginal_likelihood
      )
    
    # compute MAP estimate
    MAP_estimate <- 
      bayesDf %>% 
      arrange(desc(posteriors)) %>% 
      slice(1) %>% 
      pull(steps)
    
    
    
    ggplot(bayesDf,aes(steps,posteriors)) +
      geom_line() +
      geom_line(aes(steps,priors),
                color='black',
                linetype='dotted') +
      xlab('p(respond)') + 
      ylab('posterior probability of the observed data') +
      annotate(
        "point", 
        x = MAP_estimate, 
        y = max(bayesDf$posteriors), 
        shape=9, 
        size = 3
      )

    file98.png


    This page titled 21.2: Estimating Posterior Distributions (Section 20.4) is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Russell A. Poldrack via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.