# Working with priors In adoptr: Adaptive Optimal Two-Stage Designs in R

knitr::opts_chunk$set( collapse = TRUE, comment = "#>", fig.width = 7, fig.height = 5 )  Internally, adoptr is built around the joint distribution of a test statistic and the unknown location parameter of interest given a sample size, i.e. $$\mathcal{L}\big[(X_i, \theta)\,|\,n_i\big]$$ where$X_i$is the stage-$i$test statistic and$n_i$the corresponding sample size. The distribution class for$X_i$is defined by specifying a DataDistribution object, e.g., a normal distribution library(adoptr) datadist <- Normal()  To completely specify the marginal distribution of$X_i$, the distribution of$\theta$must also be specified. The classical case where$\theta$is considered fixed, emerges as special case when a single parameter value has probability mass 1. ### Discrete priors The simplest supported prior class are discrete PointMassPrior priors. To specify a discrete prior, one simply specifies the vector of pivot points with positive mass and the vector of corresponding probability masses. E.g., consider an example where the point$\delta = 0.1$has probability mass$0.4$and the point$\delta = 0.25$has mass$1 - 0.4 = 0.6$. disc_prior <- PointMassPrior(c(0.1, 0.25), c(0.4, 0.6))  For details on the provided methods, see ?DiscretePrior. ### Continuous priors adoptr also supports arbitrary continuous priors with support on compact intervals. For instance, we could consider a prior based on a truncated normal via: cont_prior <- ContinuousPrior( pdf = function(x) dnorm(x, mean = 0.3, sd = 0.2), support = c(-2, 3) )  For details on the provided methods, see ?ContinuousPrior. ### Conditioning In practice, the most important operation will be conditioning. This is important to implement type one and type two error rate constraints. Consider, e.g., the case of power. Typically, a power constraint is imposed on a single point in the alternative, e.g. using the constraint Power(Normal(), PointMassPrior(.4, 1)) >= 0.8  If uncertainty about the true response rate should be incorporated in the design, it makes sense to assume a continuous prior on$\theta\$. In this case, the prior should be conditioned for the power constraint to avoid integrating over the null hypothesis:

Power(Normal(), condition(cont_prior, c(0, 3))) >= 0.8


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adoptr documentation built on June 28, 2021, 5:11 p.m.