Brief Research Report: Bayesian Versus REML Estimations With Noninformative Priors in Multilevel Single-Case Data

2020
Recently, researchers have used multilevel models for estimating intervention effects in single-case experiments that include replications across participants (e.g., multiple baseline designs) or for combining results across multiple single-case studies. Researchers estimating these multilevel models have primarily relied on restricted maximum likelihood (REML) techniques, but Bayesian approaches have also been suggested. The purpose of this Monte Carlo simulation study was to examine the impact of estimation method (REML versus Bayesian with noninformative priors) on the estimation of treatment effects (relative bias, root mean square error) and on the inferences about those effects (interval coverage) for autocorrelated multiple-baseline data. Simulated conditions varied with regard to the number of participants, series length, and distribution of the variance within and across participants. REML and Bayesian estimation led to estimates of the fixed effects that showed little to no bias but that differentially impacted the inferences about the fixed effects and the estimates of the variances. Implications for applied researchers and methodologists are discussed.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION
页码:698-710|卷号:88|期号:4
ISSN:0022-0973
收录类型
SSCI
发表日期
2020
学科领域
循证教育学
国家
美国
语种
英语
DOI
10.1080/00220973.2018.1527280
其他关键词
BASE-LINE DATA; MONTE-CARLO; MODELS; SIZES
EISSN
1940-0683
资助机构
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of EducationUS Department of Education [R305D110024]
资助信息
This research is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Grant No. R305D110024.
被引频次(WOS)
8
被引更新日期
2022-01
来源机构
Texas A&M University System Texas A&M University College Station University of Texas System University of Texas Austin KU Leuven State University System of Florida University of South Florida
关键词
Bayesian estimation estimation method multilevel modeling noninformative priors restricted maximum likelihood single-case research