Various noninformative prior distributions have been suggested for scale parameters in hierarchical models. We construct a new folded-noncentral- t family of conditionally conjugate priors for hierarchical standard deviation parameters, and then consider noninformative and weakly informative priors in this family. We use an example to illustrate serious problems with the inverse-gamma family of ``noninformative'' prior distributions. We suggest instead to use a uniform prior on the hierarchical standard deviation, using the half-t family when the number of groups is small and in other settings where a weakly informative prior is desired.
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Paper provided by Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI) in its series EERI Research Paper Series with number
EERI_RP_2004_06.
Find related papers by JEL classification: C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General C2 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables C4 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling C8 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs
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