Bayesian c-hat

[david.fletcher]

We thought it would be useful for those who fit Bayesian mark-recapture (and other) models to know that a Bayesian analogue of the c-hat adjustment in Program Mark is now available.

You can find the details here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10651-023-00567-6.

David Fletcher, Peter W. Dillingham & Matthew Parry. A simple and robust approach to Bayesian modelling of overdispersed data. Environmental and Ecological Statistics (2023)

In the Bayesian setting it will often be natural to model the mechanism that leads to overdispersion, e.g. by modelling individual heterogeneity in survival. However, there will also be cases where one simply wants to broaden the posteriors by an appropriate amount, e.g. when it is not obvious how to best model the mechanism(s) that lead to overdispersion.