predict.brma: Predict From brma Object

In RoBMA: Robust Bayesian Meta-Analyses

Predict From brma Object

Description

predict.brma predicts values

Usage

## S3 method for class 'brma'
predict(
  object,
  newdata = NULL,
  type = "terms",
  as_measure = TRUE,
  output_measure = NULL,
  transform = NULL,
  probs = c(0.025, 0.975),
  bias_adjusted = FALSE,
  quiet = FALSE,
  conditional = FALSE,
  ...
)

Arguments

object	a fitted brma object
newdata	specification for prediction data. Defaults to NULL which corresponds to prediction for the observed data. Alternatives are: TRUE returns a single aggregated prediction (either the scalar parameter for models without moderators/scale, or the average across the model matrix for regression models). Not available for type = "response" since observation-level sampling variance is required. A data.frame (for meta-regression) or a named list with effect size measure and variability metrics (for meta-analysis) for new studies. The input must contain the variables used by the requested prediction type. Outcome columns are optional for type = "terms" unless PET/PEESE bias terms are included via bias_adjusted = FALSE.
type	type of prediction to be performed. Options are: "terms" (alias: "marginal"): Fixed-effect parameters only (mu). Produces the mean effect size estimate at the given predictor levels, not accounting for random effects. "cluster": Fixed effects plus cluster-level random effects (mu + gamma). Only available for multilevel (3-level) models. "estimate" (aliases: "effect", "blup"): True effects (mu + gamma + theta). For existing normal data, returns posterior draws of conditional BLUP means, not simulated latent-effect draws. For new data, samples estimate-level random effects. "response" (alias: "outcome"): Predicted observed values (yi). Incorporates both heterogeneity and sampling variability. "terms.scale": Scale parameter (tau), incorporating scale regression if present.
as_measure	logical; whether to convert GLMM response predictions from simulated counts to continuity-corrected effect-size estimators (logOR for binomial, logIRR for Poisson). Defaults to TRUE. Only relevant for GLMM models with type = "response". When FALSE, returns raw frequency data (counts). Use type = "estimate" for latent logOR/logIRR predictions.
output_measure	effect-size measure for location/effect predictions. Defaults to the fitted measure. Supported conversions are among "SMD", "COR", "ZCOR", and "OR"; "RR", "HR", "IRR", "RD", and "GEN" can only be returned on their fitted measure. Use transform = "EXP" for ratio-scale output from log-scale measures.
transform	optional display transformation. Currently "EXP" exponentiates log-scale measures "OR", "RR", "HR", and "IRR".
probs	quantiles of the posterior samples to be displayed when the returned brma_samples object is printed. Defaults to c(.025, .975).
bias_adjusted	whether predictions should adjust for publication bias. Defaults to FALSE. When TRUE: PET/PEESE terms are NOT added to the mean parameter (mu), returning the bias-corrected effect estimate. For type = "response" with selection models, samples from the ordinary normal predictive distribution instead of the selected-normal distribution, simulating what would be observed without publication bias. When FALSE: PET/PEESE terms ARE added to mu, returning predictions that include the expected bias (i.e., what we expect to observe given publication bias). For type = "response" with selection models, samples from the selected-normal distribution reflecting the selective publishing process.
quiet	logical; whether to suppress informational messages about prediction scale and bias adjustment.
conditional	whether to return conditional posterior predictions for RoBMA product-space objects. For location predictions, samples are conditioned on the effect component; for type = "terms.scale", samples are conditioned on the heterogeneity component. Conditional samples are flattened to one chain after subsetting posterior rows.
...	additional arguments

Details

Type hierarchy:

• "terms": mu (fixed effects only)

• "cluster": mu + gamma (adds cluster-level random effect)

• "estimate": mu + gamma + theta (adds estimate-level random effect)

• "response": mu + gamma + theta + epsilon (adds sampling error)

For existing normal observations, type = "estimate" reports the conditional BLUP mean E(\theta_i \mid y_i, \mu_i, \tau_i) for each posterior draw. It is therefore an empirical-Bayes summary, not a draw from the full latent-effect posterior \theta_i \mid y_i. For new data, estimate-level random effects are sampled from their model distribution.

For RoBMA product-space objects, conditional posterior predictions subset posterior rows according to model indicators. This removes the original chain structure, so returned brma_samples objects are intentionally stored as one flattened chain.

Note that in contrast to predict, the type = "response" produces predictions for the new effect size estimates. To obtain results corresponding to metafor's predict function, use type = "terms" for the mean effect size and type = "estimate" for true effects (prediction interval).

Likelihood weights: If the model was fitted with weights, the weights affect the posterior fit, log-likelihood, LOO/WAIC, and existing-data conditional diagnostics such as BLUP shrinkage and leverage. They do not change the observation-level sampling error used by type = "response" for normal models: response predictions simulate raw future effect-size estimates with the supplied sei, not sei / sqrt(weight).

Value

A brma_samples object containing posterior samples. When printed, displays a summary table via BayesTools::ensemble_estimates_table. The underlying samples matrix can be accessed directly (the object inherits from matrix) or via summary() to obtain the summary table. The samples can also be converted to posterior draws formats using as_draws() and related functions.

See Also

pooled_effect(), pooled_heterogeneity(), blup()

Examples

## Not run: 
if (requireNamespace("metadat", quietly = TRUE) &&
    requireNamespace("metafor", quietly = TRUE)) {
  data(dat.bcg, package = "metadat")
  dat <- metafor::escalc(
    measure = "RR",
    ai      = tpos,
    bi      = tneg,
    ci      = cpos,
    di      = cneg,
    data    = dat.bcg
  )

  fit <- brma(
    yi      = yi,
    vi      = vi,
    mods    = ~ ablat + year,
    data    = dat,
    measure = "RR",
    seed    = 1,
    silent  = TRUE
  )

  predict(fit, type = "terms")
  predict(fit, newdata = TRUE, type = "terms")
  predict(fit, type = "estimate")
}

## End(Not run)

RoBMA documentation built on May 7, 2026, 5:08 p.m.