What precisely does it mean to borrow information?











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I often people them talk about information borrowing or information sharing in Bayesian hierarchical models. I can't seem to get a straight answer about what this actually means and if it is unique to Bayesian hierarchical models. I sort of get the idea: some levels in your hierarchy share a common parameter. I have no idea how this translates to "information borrowing" though.




  1. Is "information borrowing"/ "information sharing" a buzz word people like to throw out?


  2. Is there an example with closed form posteriors that illustrates this sharing phenomenon?


  3. Is this unique to a Bayesian analysis? Generally, when I see examples of "information borrowing" they are just mixed models. Maybe I learned this models in an old fashioned way, but I don't see any sharing.



I am not interested in starting a philosophical debate about methods. I am just curious about the use of this term.










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  • For your question 2., you may find this link illuminating: tjmahr.com/plotting-partial-pooling-in-mixed-effects-models.
    – Isabella Ghement
    1 hour ago















up vote
2
down vote

favorite












I often people them talk about information borrowing or information sharing in Bayesian hierarchical models. I can't seem to get a straight answer about what this actually means and if it is unique to Bayesian hierarchical models. I sort of get the idea: some levels in your hierarchy share a common parameter. I have no idea how this translates to "information borrowing" though.




  1. Is "information borrowing"/ "information sharing" a buzz word people like to throw out?


  2. Is there an example with closed form posteriors that illustrates this sharing phenomenon?


  3. Is this unique to a Bayesian analysis? Generally, when I see examples of "information borrowing" they are just mixed models. Maybe I learned this models in an old fashioned way, but I don't see any sharing.



I am not interested in starting a philosophical debate about methods. I am just curious about the use of this term.










share|cite|improve this question






















  • For your question 2., you may find this link illuminating: tjmahr.com/plotting-partial-pooling-in-mixed-effects-models.
    – Isabella Ghement
    1 hour ago













up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











I often people them talk about information borrowing or information sharing in Bayesian hierarchical models. I can't seem to get a straight answer about what this actually means and if it is unique to Bayesian hierarchical models. I sort of get the idea: some levels in your hierarchy share a common parameter. I have no idea how this translates to "information borrowing" though.




  1. Is "information borrowing"/ "information sharing" a buzz word people like to throw out?


  2. Is there an example with closed form posteriors that illustrates this sharing phenomenon?


  3. Is this unique to a Bayesian analysis? Generally, when I see examples of "information borrowing" they are just mixed models. Maybe I learned this models in an old fashioned way, but I don't see any sharing.



I am not interested in starting a philosophical debate about methods. I am just curious about the use of this term.










share|cite|improve this question













I often people them talk about information borrowing or information sharing in Bayesian hierarchical models. I can't seem to get a straight answer about what this actually means and if it is unique to Bayesian hierarchical models. I sort of get the idea: some levels in your hierarchy share a common parameter. I have no idea how this translates to "information borrowing" though.




  1. Is "information borrowing"/ "information sharing" a buzz word people like to throw out?


  2. Is there an example with closed form posteriors that illustrates this sharing phenomenon?


  3. Is this unique to a Bayesian analysis? Generally, when I see examples of "information borrowing" they are just mixed models. Maybe I learned this models in an old fashioned way, but I don't see any sharing.



I am not interested in starting a philosophical debate about methods. I am just curious about the use of this term.







machine-learning bayesian multilevel-analysis terminology hierarchical-bayesian






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asked 4 hours ago









EliK

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  • For your question 2., you may find this link illuminating: tjmahr.com/plotting-partial-pooling-in-mixed-effects-models.
    – Isabella Ghement
    1 hour ago


















  • For your question 2., you may find this link illuminating: tjmahr.com/plotting-partial-pooling-in-mixed-effects-models.
    – Isabella Ghement
    1 hour ago
















For your question 2., you may find this link illuminating: tjmahr.com/plotting-partial-pooling-in-mixed-effects-models.
– Isabella Ghement
1 hour ago




For your question 2., you may find this link illuminating: tjmahr.com/plotting-partial-pooling-in-mixed-effects-models.
– Isabella Ghement
1 hour ago










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Consider a simple problem like estimating means of multiple groups. If your model treats them as completely unrelated then the only information you have about each mean is the information within that group. If your model treats their means as somewhat related (such as in some mixed-effects type model) then the estimates will be more precise because information from other groups informs the estimate for a given group. That's an example of 'borrowing information'.






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    Consider a simple problem like estimating means of multiple groups. If your model treats them as completely unrelated then the only information you have about each mean is the information within that group. If your model treats their means as somewhat related (such as in some mixed-effects type model) then the estimates will be more precise because information from other groups informs the estimate for a given group. That's an example of 'borrowing information'.






    share|cite|improve this answer

























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      3
      down vote













      Consider a simple problem like estimating means of multiple groups. If your model treats them as completely unrelated then the only information you have about each mean is the information within that group. If your model treats their means as somewhat related (such as in some mixed-effects type model) then the estimates will be more precise because information from other groups informs the estimate for a given group. That's an example of 'borrowing information'.






      share|cite|improve this answer























        up vote
        3
        down vote










        up vote
        3
        down vote









        Consider a simple problem like estimating means of multiple groups. If your model treats them as completely unrelated then the only information you have about each mean is the information within that group. If your model treats their means as somewhat related (such as in some mixed-effects type model) then the estimates will be more precise because information from other groups informs the estimate for a given group. That's an example of 'borrowing information'.






        share|cite|improve this answer












        Consider a simple problem like estimating means of multiple groups. If your model treats them as completely unrelated then the only information you have about each mean is the information within that group. If your model treats their means as somewhat related (such as in some mixed-effects type model) then the estimates will be more precise because information from other groups informs the estimate for a given group. That's an example of 'borrowing information'.







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        share|cite|improve this answer



        share|cite|improve this answer










        answered 2 hours ago









        Glen_b

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