Bayesian Methods for Generalized Linear Models

Generalized linear models have various applications for data arising from many kinds of statistical studies. Although the response variable is generally assumed to be generated from a wide class of probability distributions we focus on count data that are most often analyzed using binomial models for proportions or poisson models for rates. The methods and results presented here also apply to many other categorical data models in general due to the relationship between multinomial and poisson sampling. The novelty of the approach suggested here is that all conditional distribution s can be specified directly so that staraightforward Gibbs sampling is possible. The prior distribution consists of two stages. We rely on a normal nonconjugate prior at the first stage and a vague prior for hyperparameters at the second stage. The methods are demonstrated with an illustrative example using data collected by Rosenkranz and raftery(1994) concerning the number of hospital admissions due to back pain in Washington state.