Data analysis recipes: Probability calculus for inference
Abstract
In this pedagogical text aimed at those wanting to start thinking about or brush up on probabilistic inference, I review the rules by which probability distribution functions can (and cannot) be combined. I connect these rules to the operations performed in probabilistic data analysis. Dimensional analysis is emphasized as a valuable tool for helping to construct non-wrong probabilistic statements. The applications of probability calculus in constructing likelihoods, marginalized likelihoods, posterior probabilities, and posterior predictions are all discussed.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- May 2012
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1205.4446
- Bibcode:
- 2012arXiv1205.4446H
- Keywords:
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- Physics - Data Analysis;
- Statistics and Probability;
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- a chapter from a non-existent book