Dear all Bugs user, Recently I am looking into the relationship between Shark's fin length (fl) and regions, group, sex by using BMA. See my two Winbugs files below, 18 different models were built up. One used the original data, one used standardized data. The one used original data has the totally different results from the one with standardized data has. Which one is more proper? I found many examples standardized their data, but I have no clue why? Really appreciate any one to help me solve this puzzle. #### Original data model { for(i in 1:M) { fl[i] ~ dnorm(mu[i],tau) mu[i] <- a1 + Ind.group*a2*group[i] + Ind.sex*a3*sex[i] + Ind.region*a4*region[i] + Ind.groupbysex*a5*group[i]*sex[i] + Ind.groupbyregion*a6*group[i]*region[i] + Ind.sexbyregion*a7*sex[i]*region[i] } tau~dgamma(1,1) tau.constant<- 1.0E-6 tau.group <- 1.0E-6+(Ind.group*1.0E-5) tau.sex<-1.0E-6+(Ind.sex*1.0E-5) tau.region<- 1.0E-6+(Ind.region*1.0E-5) tau.group.sex <-1.0E-6+(Ind.groupbysex*1.0E-5) tau.group.region<- 1.0E-6+(Ind.groupbyregion*1.0E-5) tau.sex.region <-1.0E-6+(Ind.sexbyregion*1.0E-5) a1 ~ dnorm(0, tau.constant) a2~ dnorm(0, tau.group) a3~ dnorm(0, tau.sex) a4 ~ dnorm(0, tau.region) a5~ dnorm(0, tau.group.sex) a6~ dnorm(0, tau.group.region) a7~ dnorm(0, tau.sex.region) Model ~ dcat(p[]) for (i in 1:18) { p[i]<- 1/18 Ind.Model[i]<-equals(Model,i) } Ind.group<-equals(Model,2)+equals(Model,5)+equals(Model,6)+equals(Model, 8)+equals(Model,9)+equals(Model,10)+step(Model-11.5) Ind.sex<-equals(Model,3)+equals(Model,5)+equals(Model,7)+equals(Model,8) +equals(Model,9)+step(Model-10.5) Ind.region<-equals(Model,4)+equals(Model,6)+equals(Model,7)+equals(Model ,8)+step(Model-9.5) Ind.groupbysex<-equals(Model,9)+equals(Model,12)+equals(Model,15)+equals (Model,16)+equals(Model,18) Ind.groupbyregion<-equals(Model,10)+equals(Model,13)+equals(Model,15)+eq uals(Model,17)+equals(Model,18) Ind.sexbyregion<-equals(Model,11)+equals(Model,14)+step(Model-15.5) } Data click on one of the arrows to open the data Initial values list(tau=1, Model=1) #`Results node mean sd MC error 2.5% median 97.5% start sample Ind.Model[1] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[2] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[3] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[4] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[5] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[6] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[7] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[8] 0.004559 0.06736 0.002203 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[9] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[10] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[11] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[12] 0.0 0.0 7.001E-13 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[13] 0.8742 0.3316 0.01016 0.0 1.0 1.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[14] 0.003039 0.05505 0.001531 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[15] 0.05559 0.2291 0.006856 0.0 0.0 1.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[16] 1.961E-4 0.014 1.541E-4 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[17] 0.0602 0.2378 0.007913 0.0 0.0 1.0 5001 20400 Ind.Model[18] 0.002206 0.04691 6.672E-4 0.0 0.0 0.0 5001 20400 ###Standardized data model { mean.group<-mean(group[1:1153]) mean.sex<- mean(sex[1:1153]) mean.region<- mean(region[1:1153]) mean.groupsex<-mean(groupsex[1:1153]) mean.groupregion<-mean(groupregion[1:1153]) mean.sexregion<-mean(sexregion[1:1153]) sd.group<-sd(group[1:1153]) sd.sex<-sd(sex[1:1153]) sd.region<- sd(region[1:1153]) sd.groupsex<-sd(groupsex[1:1153]) sd.groupregion<-sd(groupregion[1:1153]) sd.sexregion<-sd(sexregion[1:1153]) for(i in 1:M) { groupregion[i]<-group[i]*region[i] groupsex[i]<-group[i]*sex[i] sexregion[i]<-sex[i]*region[i] G[i]<-(group[i]-mean.group)/sd.group S[i]<-(group[i]-mean.sex)/sd.sex R[i]<-(region[i]-mean.region)/sd.region GS[i]<-(groupsex[i]-mean.groupsex)/sd.groupsex GR[i]<-(groupregion[i]-mean.groupregion)/sd.groupregion SR[i]<-(sexregion[i]-mean.sexregion)/sd.sexregion } for(i in 1:M) { fl[i] ~ dnorm(mu[i],tau) mu[i] <- a1 + Ind.group*a2*G[i] + Ind.sex*a3*S[i] + Ind.region*a4*R[i] + Ind.groupbysex*a5*GS[i] + Ind.groupbyregion*a6*GR[i] + Ind.sexbyregion*a7*SR[i] } tau~dgamma(1,1) tau.constant<- 1.0E-6 tau.group <- 1.0E-6+(Ind.group*1.0E-5) tau.sex<-1.0E-6+(Ind.sex*1.0E-5) tau.region<- 1.0E-6+(Ind.region*1.0E-5) tau.group.sex <-1.0E-6+(Ind.groupbysex*1.0E-5) tau.group.region<- 1.0E-6+(Ind.groupbyregion*1.0E-5) tau.sex.region <-1.0E-6+(Ind.sexbyregion*1.0E-5) a1 ~ dnorm(0, tau.constant) a2~ dnorm(0, tau.group) a3~ dnorm(0, tau.sex) a4 ~ dnorm(0, tau.region) a5~ dnorm(0, tau.group.sex) a6~ dnorm(0, tau.group.region) a7~ dnorm(0, tau.sex.region) Model ~ dcat(p[]) for (i in 1:18) { p[i]<- 1/18 Ind.Model[i]<-equals(Model,i) } Ind.group<-equals(Model,2)+equals(Model,5)+equals(Model,6)+equals(Model, 8)+equals(Model,9)+equals(Model,10)+step(Model-11.5) Ind.sex<-equals(Model,3)+equals(Model,5)+equals(Model,7)+equals(Model,8) +equals(Model,9)+step(Model-10.5) Ind.region<-equals(Model,4)+equals(Model,6)+equals(Model,7)+equals(Model ,8)+step(Model-9.5) Ind.groupbysex<-equals(Model,9)+equals(Model,12)+equals(Model,15)+equals (Model,16)+equals(Model,18) Ind.groupbyregion<-equals(Model,10)+equals(Model,13)+equals(Model,15)+eq uals(Model,17)+equals(Model,18) Ind.sexbyregion<-equals(Model,11)+equals(Model,14)+step(Model-15.5) } Data click on one of the arrows to open the data Initial values list(tau=1, Model=1) #`Results node mean sd MC error 2.5% median 97.5% start sample Ind.Model[1] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[2] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[3] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[4] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[5] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[6] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[7] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[8] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[9] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[10] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[11] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[12] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[13] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[14] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[15] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[16] 0.007037 0.08359 0.001292 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[17] 0.0 0.0 5.164E-14 0.0 0.0 0.0 15001 750000 Ind.Model[18] 0.993 0.08359 0.001292 1.0 1.0 1.0 15001 750000 ___________________________ Guojing YANG Research Fellow Wildlife & Landscape Sciences Theme School for Environmental Research Charles Darwin University Darwin NT 0909 Ph: (08) 8946 6646 Fax: (08) 8946 7720 http://www.cdu.edu.au/ser/GuojingYangProfile.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is for discussion of modelling issues and the BUGS software. 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