Past exam of the statistics course of the University of Oxford / 2017 / 3 / b

For a specified posterior probability $1-\alpha$, an interval $I=({\theta }_1,{\theta }_2)$ is a highest posterior density interval ifand every included point has posterior density at least as large as every excluded point, apart from boundary and null-set choices. Equivalently, $I$ is a level set $\{\theta :\pi (\theta \mid x)>k\}$, with possible choices on its boundary, whose posterior probability is $1-\alpha$.

This selects the most densely supported values of the statistical parameter. When the relevant level set is one interval and has no plateau of positive probability, it is the shortest credible interval of that posterior probability. With several separated peaks, the corresponding highest density region can instead be disconnected, so an interval need not exist. The definition is in the stated parameter coordinate: posterior density ordering can change under a nonlinear change of parameter.

Put $A=a+s>1$ and $B=b+n-s>1$ as in part (a), and let $F_{A,B}$ be the cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution $\mathrm{Beta}(A,B)$. The two endpoint equations areThe first equation fixes the posterior probability, and the second makes the two endpoint posterior densities equal. Their admissible ordering isTo justify sufficiency and uniqueness, the derivative of the logarithm of the posterior density iswhich is positive below $m=(A-1)/(A+B-2)$ and negative above it. Thus the posterior density increases strictly to its unique mode and decreases strictly thereafter, vanishing at both ends. Each density threshold $k$ between zero and the maximum determines exactly one endpoint on each side of $m$. The probability between these endpoints decreases continuously and strictly from one to zero as $k$ increases, so exactly one threshold gives 0.95. This is the beta highest posterior density endpoint characterization.