A Bayesian Analysis Suitable for Classroom Presentation

Abstract

Abstract In the usual beginning mathematical statistics course, such as one with DeGroot's Probability and Statistics (1986) as a textbook, the basic mathematical concepts associated with prior and posterior distributions will be discussed. But these discussions contain very little information about the actual selection of a prior distribution for a specific problem. This article contains a discussion of a real problem and the resulting Bayesian analysis that provides a nice solution to the problem. Emphasis is placed on the selection of the prior distribution and the parameters associated with the prior so that students can see how one can actually apply these methods to a real problem.