Download or read book Intervention Research written by Mark W. Fraser and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When social workers draw on experience, theory, or data in order to develop new strategies or enhance existing ones, they are conducting intervention research. This relatively new field involves program design, implementation, and evaluation and requires a theory-based, systematic approach. Intervention Research presents such a framework. The five-step strategy described in this brief but thorough book ushers the reader from an idea's germination through the process of writing a treatment manual, assessing program efficacy and effectiveness, and disseminating findings. Rich with examples drawn from child welfare, school-based prevention, medicine, and juvenile justice, Intervention Research relates each step of the process to current social work practice. It also explains how to adapt interventions for new contexts, and provides extensive examples of intervention research in fields such as child welfare, school-based prevention, medicine, and juvenile justice, and offers insights about changes and challenges in the field. This innovative pocket guide will serve as a solid reference for those already in the field, as well as help the next generation of social workers develop skills to contribute to the evolving field of intervention research.

Download or read book Bayesian Data Analysis Third Edition written by Andrew Gelman and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 677 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in its third edition, this classic book is widely considered the leading text on Bayesian methods, lauded for its accessible, practical approach to analyzing data and solving research problems. Bayesian Data Analysis, Third Edition continues to take an applied approach to analysis using up-to-date Bayesian methods. The authors—all leaders in the statistics community—introduce basic concepts from a data-analytic perspective before presenting advanced methods. Throughout the text, numerous worked examples drawn from real applications and research emphasize the use of Bayesian inference in practice. New to the Third Edition Four new chapters on nonparametric modeling Coverage of weakly informative priors and boundary-avoiding priors Updated discussion of cross-validation and predictive information criteria Improved convergence monitoring and effective sample size calculations for iterative simulation Presentations of Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, variational Bayes, and expectation propagation New and revised software code The book can be used in three different ways. For undergraduate students, it introduces Bayesian inference starting from first principles. For graduate students, the text presents effective current approaches to Bayesian modeling and computation in statistics and related fields. For researchers, it provides an assortment of Bayesian methods in applied statistics. Additional materials, including data sets used in the examples, solutions to selected exercises, and software instructions, are available on the book’s web page.

Download or read book Sampling for Natural Resource Monitoring written by Jaap de Gruijter and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-04-26 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents statistical knowledge, and methodology of sampling and data analysis specifically for spatial inventory and monitoring of local natural resources. The text shows how statistical methodology can be embedded in real-life spatial inventory and monitoring projects. The book functions as a design guide for efficient sampling schemes and monitoring systems can be designed, consistent with the aims and constraints of the project.

Download or read book Bayesian Approaches to Clinical Trials and Health Care Evaluation written by David J. Spiegelhalter and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-01-16 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: READ ALL ABOUT IT! David Spiegelhalter has recently joined the ranks of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking by becoming a fellow of the Royal Society. Originating from the Medical Research Council’s biostatistics unit, David has played a leading role in the Bristol heart surgery and Harold Shipman inquiries. Order a copy of this author’s comprehensive text TODAY! The Bayesian approach involves synthesising data and judgement in order to reach conclusions about unknown quantities and make predictions. Bayesian methods have become increasingly popular in recent years, notably in medical research, and although there are a number of books on Bayesian analysis, few cover clinical trials and biostatistical applications in any detail. Bayesian Approaches to Clinical Trials and Health-Care Evaluation provides a valuable overview of this rapidly evolving field, including basic Bayesian ideas, prior distributions, clinical trials, observational studies, evidence synthesis and cost-effectiveness analysis. Covers a broad array of essential topics, building from the basics to more advanced techniques. Illustrated throughout by detailed case studies and worked examples Includes exercises in all chapters Accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of statistics Authors are at the forefront of research into Bayesian methods in medical research Accompanied by a Web site featuring data sets and worked examples using Excel and WinBUGS - the most widely used Bayesian modelling package Bayesian Approaches to Clinical Trials and Health-Care Evaluation is suitable for students and researchers in medical statistics, statisticians in the pharmaceutical industry, and anyone involved in conducting clinical trials and assessment of health-care technology.

Download or read book Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis written by James O. Berger and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 633 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this new edition the author has added substantial material on Bayesian analysis, including lengthy new sections on such important topics as empirical and hierarchical Bayes analysis, Bayesian calculation, Bayesian communication, and group decision making. With these changes, the book can be used as a self-contained introduction to Bayesian analysis. In addition, much of the decision-theoretic portion of the text was updated, including new sections covering such modern topics as minimax multivariate (Stein) estimation.

Download or read book Doing Meta Analysis with R written by Mathias Harrer and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-09-15 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Doing Meta-Analysis with R: A Hands-On Guide serves as an accessible introduction on how meta-analyses can be conducted in R. Essential steps for meta-analysis are covered, including calculation and pooling of outcome measures, forest plots, heterogeneity diagnostics, subgroup analyses, meta-regression, methods to control for publication bias, risk of bias assessments and plotting tools. Advanced but highly relevant topics such as network meta-analysis, multi-three-level meta-analyses, Bayesian meta-analysis approaches and SEM meta-analysis are also covered. A companion R package, dmetar, is introduced at the beginning of the guide. It contains data sets and several helper functions for the meta and metafor package used in the guide. The programming and statistical background covered in the book are kept at a non-expert level, making the book widely accessible. Features • Contains two introductory chapters on how to set up an R environment and do basic imports/manipulations of meta-analysis data, including exercises • Describes statistical concepts clearly and concisely before applying them in R • Includes step-by-step guidance through the coding required to perform meta-analyses, and a companion R package for the book

Download or read book A Course in Probability Theory written by Kai Lai Chung and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2014-06-28 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains about 500 exercises consisting mostly of special cases and examples, second thoughts and alternative arguments, natural extensions, and some novel departures. With a few obvious exceptions they are neither profound nor trivial, and hints and comments are appended to many of them. If they tend to be somewhat inbred, at least they are relevant to the text and should help in its digestion. As a bold venture I have marked a few of them with a * to indicate a "must", although no rigid standard of selection has been used. Some of these are needed in the book, but in any case the reader's study of the text will be more complete after he has tried at least those problems.

Download or read book Sample Size Calculations in Clinical Research written by Shein-Chung Chow and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 825 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for the Second Edition: "... this is a useful, comprehensive compendium of almost every possible sample size formula. The strong organization and carefully defined formulae will aid any researcher designing a study." -Biometrics "This impressive book contains formulae for computing sample size in a wide range of settings. One-sample studies and two-sample comparisons for quantitative, binary, and time-to-event outcomes are covered comprehensively, with separate sample size formulae for testing equality, non-inferiority, and equivalence. Many less familiar topics are also covered ..." – Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Sample Size Calculations in Clinical Research, Third Edition presents statistical procedures for performing sample size calculations during various phases of clinical research and development. A comprehensive and unified presentation of statistical concepts and practical applications, this book includes a well-balanced summary of current and emerging clinical issues, regulatory requirements, and recently developed statistical methodologies for sample size calculation. Features: Compares the relative merits and disadvantages of statistical methods for sample size calculations Explains how the formulae and procedures for sample size calculations can be used in a variety of clinical research and development stages Presents real-world examples from several therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular medicine, the central nervous system, anti-infective medicine, oncology, and women’s health Provides sample size calculations for dose response studies, microarray studies, and Bayesian approaches This new edition is updated throughout, includes many new sections, and five new chapters on emerging topics: two stage seamless adaptive designs, cluster randomized trial design, zero-inflated Poisson distribution, clinical trials with extremely low incidence rates, and clinical trial simulation.

Download or read book Optimal Bayesian Classification written by Lori A. Dalton and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The most basic problem of engineering is the design of optimal operators. Design takes different forms depending on the random process constituting the scientific model and the operator class of interest. This book treats classification, where the underlying random process is a feature-label distribution, and an optimal operator is a Bayes classifier, which is a classifier minimizing the classification error. With sufficient knowledge we can construct the feature-label distribution and thereby find a Bayes classifier. Rarely, do we possess such knowledge. On the other hand, if we had unlimited data, we could accurately estimate the feature-label distribution and obtain a Bayes classifier. Rarely do we possess sufficient data. The aim of this book is to best use whatever knowledge and data are available to design a classifier. The book takes a Bayesian approach to modeling the feature-label distribution and designs an optimal classifier relative to a posterior distribution governing an uncertainty class of feature-label distributions. In this way it takes full advantage of knowledge regarding the underlying system and the available data. Its origins lie in the need to estimate classifier error when there is insufficient data to hold out test data, in which case an optimal error estimate can be obtained relative to the uncertainty class. A natural next step is to forgo classical ad hoc classifier design and simply find an optimal classifier relative to the posterior distribution over the uncertainty class-this being an optimal Bayesian classifier"--

Download or read book Contemporary Bayesian Econometrics and Statistics written by John Geweke and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2005-10-03 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tools to improve decision making in an imperfect world This publication provides readers with a thorough understanding of Bayesian analysis that is grounded in the theory of inference and optimal decision making. Contemporary Bayesian Econometrics and Statistics provides readers with state-of-the-art simulation methods and models that are used to solve complex real-world problems. Armed with a strong foundation in both theory and practical problem-solving tools, readers discover how to optimize decision making when faced with problems that involve limited or imperfect data. The book begins by examining the theoretical and mathematical foundations of Bayesian statistics to help readers understand how and why it is used in problem solving. The author then describes how modern simulation methods make Bayesian approaches practical using widely available mathematical applications software. In addition, the author details how models can be applied to specific problems, including: * Linear models and policy choices * Modeling with latent variables and missing data * Time series models and prediction * Comparison and evaluation of models The publication has been developed and fine- tuned through a decade of classroom experience, and readers will find the author's approach very engaging and accessible. There are nearly 200 examples and exercises to help readers see how effective use of Bayesian statistics enables them to make optimal decisions. MATLAB? and R computer programs are integrated throughout the book. An accompanying Web site provides readers with computer code for many examples and datasets. This publication is tailored for research professionals who use econometrics and similar statistical methods in their work. With its emphasis on practical problem solving and extensive use of examples and exercises, this is also an excellent textbook for graduate-level students in a broad range of fields, including economics, statistics, the social sciences, business, and public policy.

Download or read book The Birnbaum Saunders Distribution written by Victor Leiva and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2015-10-26 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Birnbaum-Saunders Distribution presents the statistical theory, methodology, and applications of the Birnbaum-Saunders distribution, a very flexible distribution for modeling different types of data (mainly lifetime data). The book describes the most recent theoretical developments of this model, including properties, transformations and related distributions, lifetime analysis, and shape analysis. It discusses methods of inference based on uncensored and censored data, goodness-of-fit tests, and random number generation algorithms for the Birnbaum-Saunders distribution, also presenting existing and future applications. - Introduces inference in the Birnbaum-Saunders distribution - Provides a comprehensive review of the statistical theory and methodology of the Birnbaum-Distribution - Discusses different applications of the Birnbaum-Saunders distribution - Explains characterization and the lifetime analysis

Download or read book Introduction to Bayesian Statistics written by William M. Bolstad and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "...this edition is useful and effective in teaching Bayesian inference at both elementary and intermediate levels. It is a well-written book on elementary Bayesian inference, and the material is easily accessible. It is both concise and timely, and provides a good collection of overviews and reviews of important tools used in Bayesian statistical methods." There is a strong upsurge in the use of Bayesian methods in applied statistical analysis, yet most introductory statistics texts only present frequentist methods. Bayesian statistics has many important advantages that students should learn about if they are going into fields where statistics will be used. In this third Edition, four newly-added chapters address topics that reflect the rapid advances in the field of Bayesian statistics. The authors continue to provide a Bayesian treatment of introductory statistical topics, such as scientific data gathering, discrete random variables, robust Bayesian methods, and Bayesian approaches to inference for discrete random variables, binomial proportions, Poisson, and normal means, and simple linear regression. In addition, more advanced topics in the field are presented in four new chapters: Bayesian inference for a normal with unknown mean and variance; Bayesian inference for a Multivariate Normal mean vector; Bayesian inference for the Multiple Linear Regression Model; and Computational Bayesian Statistics including Markov Chain Monte Carlo. The inclusion of these topics will facilitate readers' ability to advance from a minimal understanding of Statistics to the ability to tackle topics in more applied, advanced level books. Minitab macros and R functions are available on the book's related website to assist with chapter exercises. Introduction to Bayesian Statistics, Third Edition also features: Topics including the Joint Likelihood function and inference using independent Jeffreys priors and join conjugate prior The cutting-edge topic of computational Bayesian Statistics in a new chapter, with a unique focus on Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods Exercises throughout the book that have been updated to reflect new applications and the latest software applications Detailed appendices that guide readers through the use of R and Minitab software for Bayesian analysis and Monte Carlo simulations, with all related macros available on the book's website Introduction to Bayesian Statistics, Third Edition is a textbook for upper-undergraduate or first-year graduate level courses on introductory statistics course with a Bayesian emphasis. It can also be used as a reference work for statisticians who require a working knowledge of Bayesian statistics.

Download or read book Doing Bayesian Data Analysis written by John Kruschke and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2010-11-25 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is an explosion of interest in Bayesian statistics, primarily because recently created computational methods have finally made Bayesian analysis tractable and accessible to a wide audience. Doing Bayesian Data Analysis, A Tutorial Introduction with R and BUGS, is for first year graduate students or advanced undergraduates and provides an accessible approach, as all mathematics is explained intuitively and with concrete examples. It assumes only algebra and 'rusty' calculus. Unlike other textbooks, this book begins with the basics, including essential concepts of probability and random sampling. The book gradually climbs all the way to advanced hierarchical modeling methods for realistic data. The text provides complete examples with the R programming language and BUGS software (both freeware), and begins with basic programming examples, working up gradually to complete programs for complex analyses and presentation graphics. These templates can be easily adapted for a large variety of students and their own research needs.The textbook bridges the students from their undergraduate training into modern Bayesian methods. - Accessible, including the basics of essential concepts of probability and random sampling - Examples with R programming language and BUGS software - Comprehensive coverage of all scenarios addressed by non-bayesian textbooks- t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and comparisons in ANOVA, multiple regression, and chi-square (contingency table analysis). - Coverage of experiment planning - R and BUGS computer programming code on website - Exercises have explicit purposes and guidelines for accomplishment

Download or read book Bayesian Methods for Hackers written by Cameron Davidson-Pilon and published by Addison-Wesley Professional. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master Bayesian Inference through Practical Examples and Computation–Without Advanced Mathematical Analysis Bayesian methods of inference are deeply natural and extremely powerful. However, most discussions of Bayesian inference rely on intensely complex mathematical analyses and artificial examples, making it inaccessible to anyone without a strong mathematical background. Now, though, Cameron Davidson-Pilon introduces Bayesian inference from a computational perspective, bridging theory to practice–freeing you to get results using computing power. Bayesian Methods for Hackers illuminates Bayesian inference through probabilistic programming with the powerful PyMC language and the closely related Python tools NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib. Using this approach, you can reach effective solutions in small increments, without extensive mathematical intervention. Davidson-Pilon begins by introducing the concepts underlying Bayesian inference, comparing it with other techniques and guiding you through building and training your first Bayesian model. Next, he introduces PyMC through a series of detailed examples and intuitive explanations that have been refined after extensive user feedback. You’ll learn how to use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm, choose appropriate sample sizes and priors, work with loss functions, and apply Bayesian inference in domains ranging from finance to marketing. Once you’ve mastered these techniques, you’ll constantly turn to this guide for the working PyMC code you need to jumpstart future projects. Coverage includes • Learning the Bayesian “state of mind” and its practical implications • Understanding how computers perform Bayesian inference • Using the PyMC Python library to program Bayesian analyses • Building and debugging models with PyMC • Testing your model’s “goodness of fit” • Opening the “black box” of the Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to see how and why it works • Leveraging the power of the “Law of Large Numbers” • Mastering key concepts, such as clustering, convergence, autocorrelation, and thinning • Using loss functions to measure an estimate’s weaknesses based on your goals and desired outcomes • Selecting appropriate priors and understanding how their influence changes with dataset size • Overcoming the “exploration versus exploitation” dilemma: deciding when “pretty good” is good enough • Using Bayesian inference to improve A/B testing • Solving data science problems when only small amounts of data are available Cameron Davidson-Pilon has worked in many areas of applied mathematics, from the evolutionary dynamics of genes and diseases to stochastic modeling of financial prices. His contributions to the open source community include lifelines, an implementation of survival analysis in Python. Educated at the University of Waterloo and at the Independent University of Moscow, he currently works with the online commerce leader Shopify.

Download or read book Bayesian Adaptive Methods for Clinical Trials written by Scott M. Berry and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-07-19 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Already popular in the analysis of medical device trials, adaptive Bayesian designs are increasingly being used in drug development for a wide variety of diseases and conditions, from Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis to obesity, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV. Written by leading pioneers of Bayesian clinical trial designs, Bayesian Adapti

Download or read book Sample Sizes for Clinical Trials written by Steven A. Julious and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2009-08-26 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on various real-world applications, Sample Sizes for Clinical Trials takes readers through the process of calculating sample sizes for many types of clinical trials. It provides descriptions of the calculations with a practical emphasis.Focusing on normal, binary, ordinal, and survival data, the book explores a range of trials, including su

Download or read book Model Assisted Bayesian Designs for Dose Finding and Optimization written by Ying Yuan and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2022-11-11 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bayesian adaptive designs provide a critical approach to improve the efficiency and success of drug development that has been embraced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is particularly important for early phase trials as they form the basis for the development and success of subsequent phase II and III trials. The objective of this book is to describe the state-of-the-art model-assisted designs to facilitate and accelerate the use of novel adaptive designs for early phase clinical trials. Model-assisted designs possess avant-garde features where superiority meets simplicity. Model-assisted designs enjoy exceptional performance comparable to more complicated model-based adaptive designs, yet their decision rules often can be pre-tabulated and included in the protocol—making implementation as simple as conventional algorithm-based designs. An example is the Bayesian optimal interval (BOIN) design, the first dose-finding design to receive the fit-for-purpose designation from the FDA. This designation underscores the regulatory agency's support of the use of the novel adaptive design to improve drug development. Features Represents the first book to provide comprehensive coverage of model-assisted designs for various types of dose-finding and optimization clinical trials Describes the up-to-date theory and practice for model-assisted designs Presents many practical challenges, issues, and solutions arising from early-phase clinical trials Illustrates with many real trial applications Offers numerous tips and guidance on designing dose finding and optimization trials Provides step-by-step illustrations of using software to design trials Develops a companion website (www.trialdesign.org) to provide freely available, easy-to-use software to assist learning and implementing model-assisted designs Written by internationally recognized research leaders who pioneered model-assisted designs from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, this book shows how model-assisted designs can greatly improve the efficiency and simplify the design, conduct, and optimization of early-phase dose-finding trials. It should therefore be a very useful practical reference for biostatisticians, clinicians working in clinical trials, and drug regulatory professionals, as well as graduate students of biostatistics. Novel model-assisted designs showcase the new KISS principle: Keep it simple and smart!