Skip Navigation


Biometrika Advance Access originally published online on May 4, 2009
Biometrika 2009 96(3):497-512; doi:10.1093/biomet/asp017
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Carvalho, C. M.
Right arrow Articles by Scott, J. G.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2009 Biometrika Trust

Article

Objective Bayesian model selection in Gaussian graphical models

C. M. Carvalho

Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, U.S.A. carlos.carvalho{at}chicagobooth.edu

J. G. Scott

Department of Statistical Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, U.S.A. james{at}stat.duke.edu

Received for publication 1 September 2007. Revision received 1 November 2008.

This paper presents a default model-selection procedure for Gaussian graphical models that involves two new developments. First, we develop a default version of the hyper-inverse Wishart prior for restricted covariance matrices, called the hyper-inverse Wishart g-prior, and show how it corresponds to the implied fractional prior for selecting a graph using fractional Bayes factors. Second, we apply a class of priors that automatically handles the problem of multiple hypothesis testing. We demonstrate our methods on a variety of simulated examples, concluding with a real example analyzing covariation in mutual-fund returns. These studies reveal that the combined use of a multiplicity-correction prior on graphs and fractional Bayes factors for computing marginal likelihoods yields better performance than existing Bayesian methods.

Key Words: Bayesian model selection • Fractional Bayes factor • Gaussian graphical model • Hyper-inverse Wishart distribution • Multiple hypothesis testing



References

    Atay-Kayis A., Massam H. A Monte Carlo method for computing the marginal likelihood in nondecomposable Gaussian graphical models. Biometrika (2005) 92:317–35.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

    Berger J. O., Pericchi L. The intrinsic Bayes factor for model selection and prediction. J. Am. Statist. Assoc. (1996) 91:109–22.[CrossRef][Web of Science]

    Berger J. O., Pericchi L. Objective Bayesian methods for model selection: introduction and comparison. In: Model Selection (2001) Beachwood, OH: Institute of Mathematical Statistics. 135–207. Institute of Mathematical Statistics Lecture Notes – Monograph Series 38.

    Carvalho C., Massam H., West M. Simulation of hyper-inverse Wishart distributions in graphical models. Biometrika (2007) 94:647–59.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

    Carvalho C., West M. Dynamic matrix-variate graphical models. Bayesian Anal. (2007) 2:69–96.[CrossRef]

    Dawid A. P., Lauritzen S. L. Hyper-Markov laws in the statistical analysis of decomposable graphical models. Ann. Statist. (1993) 21:1272–317.[CrossRef]

    Dobra A., Jones B., Hans C., Nevins J., West M. Sparse graphical models for exploring gene expression data. J. Mult. Anal. (2004) 90:196–212.[CrossRef]

    Geisser S., Cornfield J. Posterior distributions for multivariate normal parameters. J. R. Statist. Soc. (1963) B25:368–76.

    George E. I., Foster D. P. Calibration and empirical Bayes variable selection. Biometrika (2000) 87:731–47.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

    Giudici P. Learning in graphical Gaussian models. In: Bayesian Statistics 5—Berger J., Bernardo J., Dawid A., Smith A., eds. (1996) New York: Oxford University Press. 621–8.

    Giudici P., Green P. J. Decomposable graphical Gaussian model determination. Biometrika (1999) 86:785–801.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

    Jefferys W., Berger J. Ockham's razor and Bayesian analysis. Am. Sci. (1992) 80:64–72.[Web of Science]

    Jeffreys H. Theory of Probability (1961) 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Jones B., Carvalho C., Dobra A., Hans C., Carter C., West M. Experiments in stochastic computation for high-dimensional graphical models. Statist. Sci. (2005) 20:388–400.[CrossRef]

    Lauritzen S. L. Graphical Models (1996) Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Letac G., Massam H. Wishart distributions on decomposable graphs. Ann. Statist. (2007) 35:1278–1323.[CrossRef]

    Liang F., Paulo R., Molina G., Clyde M., Berger J. Mixtures of g-priors for Bayesian variable selection. J. Am. Statist. Assoc. (2008) 103:410–23.[CrossRef][Web of Science]

    Massam H., Neher E. Estimation and testing for lattice conditional independence models on euclidean jordan algebras. Ann. Statist. (1998) 26:1051–82.[CrossRef]

    O'Hagan A. Fractional Bayes factors for model comparison. J. R. Statist. Soc. (1995) B 57:99–138.

    Paulsen V., Power S., Smith R. Schur products and matrix completions. J. Funct. Anal. (1989) 85:151–78.[CrossRef]

    Roverato A. Cholesky decomposition of a hyper-inverse Wishart matrix. Biometrika (2000) 87:99–112.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

    Scott J. G., Berger J. O. An exploration of aspects of Bayesian multiple testing. J. Statist. Plan. Infer. (2006) 136:2144–62.[CrossRef]

    Scott J. G., Carvalho C. M. Feature-inclusion stochastic search for Gaussian graphical models. J. Comp. Graph. Statist. (2009) 17:790–808.[CrossRef]

    Sun D., Berger J. O. Objective priors for the multivariate normal model. In: Bayesian Statistics 8—Bernardo J., Bayarri M., Berger J., Dawid A., Heckerman D., Smith A., West M., eds. (2009) Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Wermuth N. Linear recursive equations, covariance selection and path analysis. J. Am. Statist. Assoc. (1980) 75:963–72.[CrossRef][Web of Science]

    Zellner A. On assessing prior distributions and Bayesian regression analysis with g-prior distributions. In: Bayesian Inference and Decision Techniques: Essays in Honor of Bruno de Finetti (1986) Amsterdam: North-Holland. 233–43.

    Zellner A., Siow A. Posterior odds ratios for selected regression hypotheses. Bayesian Statistics: Proceedings of the First International Meeting held in Valencia (1980) Valencia: University Press.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?



This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Carvalho, C. M.
Right arrow Articles by Scott, J. G.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?