Oral

Bayesian statistical methods are used increasingly in public health and epidemiologic research to include prior information from previous studies or expert knowledge and to account for complicating features of the data, such as spatial correlation or high-dimensional predictors. Many public health researchers are unfamiliar with the basics of Bayesian statistics, so the goal of this session is to provide an introduction through an overview of some recent work on applications of Bayesian statistics in epidemiology. Certainly, Bayesian statistical methods can lead to important new insights and allow public health researchers to address problems not possible using classical methods.

Session Objectives: 1. Understand the use of Bayesian statistics in public health research 2. Describe advantages of Bayesian thinking 3. Develop skills for criticizing and evaluating statistical approaches