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A default Bayesian hypothesis test for mediation
Nuijten,M.B. Wetzels,R. Matzke,D. Wagenmakers,E.J. Dolan,C.V.
Nuijten,M.B.
Wetzels,R.
Matzke,D.
Wagenmakers,E.J.
Dolan,C.V.
Abstract
In order to quantify the relationship between multiple variables, researchers often carry out a mediation analysis. In such an analysis, a mediator (e.g., knowledge of a healthy diet) transmits the effect from an independent variable (e.g., classroom instruction on a healthy diet) to a dependent variable (e.g., consumption of fruits and vegetables). Almost all mediation analyses in psychology use frequentist estimation and hypothesis-testing techniques. A recent exception is Yuan and MacKinnon (Psychological Methods, 14, 301–322, 2009), who outlined a Bayesian parameter estimation procedure for mediation analysis. Here we complete the Bayesian alternative to frequentist mediation analysis by specifying a default Bayesian hypothesis test based on the Jeffreys–Zellner–Siow approach. We further extend this default Bayesian test by allowing a comparison to directional or one-sided alternatives, using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques implemented in JAGS. All Bayesian tests are implemented in the R package BayesMed (Nuijten, Wetzels, Matzke, Dolan, & Wagenmakers, 2014).
Description
Date
2015
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Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
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Keywords
SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
Citation
Nuijten, M B, Wetzels, R, Matzke, D, Wagenmakers, E J & Dolan, C V 2015, 'A default Bayesian hypothesis test for mediation', Behavior Research Methods, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 85-97. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-014-0470-2