Bayesian t-Test (BEST)
v1.0.2
Agriculture, Forestry & Aquatic context — a posterior-focused version of the classic t-test. With BF₁₀, it directly answers the question “how many times more evidence does the data provide in favor of H₁?” Three modes: one-sample/independent/paired. Rouder et al. (2009) JZS Cauchy prior.
🎯 What is it for?
The Bayesian t-Test frees you from the classic p-value dilemma. BF₁₀ > 3: moderate-to-strong evidence for H₁; BF₁₀ < 1/3: moderate-to-strong evidence for H₀. In Agriculture, Forestry & Aquatic it tests whether the Conventional and Organic groups differ in terms of urun_verimi_kg_da.
📌 When is it used?
- When comparing two groups (Conventional vs Organic) in Agriculture, Forestry & Aquatic and you also want to test H₀ directly
- Small samples (N<30) — the JZS prior stabilizes the estimates
- In replication studies — searching for evidence of a “no effect” result
- Testing a difference from a threshold (reference) value (one-sample mode)
⚙ Assumptions
- The DV is continuous (urun_verimi_kg_da).
- Independence (independent mode): the observations of the two groups are independent.
- Normality is relaxed via the CLT; for small N the Bayesian approach is more robust.
- A sensitivity check with JZS scale r ∈ {0.5, 0.707, 1.0} is recommended.
📊 How to Run in MerQur
Panel assignments (form fields in the program):
- Columns:
{'mode': 'independent', 'group_col': 'grup', 'val_col': 'birim_id'} - Parameters:
{'prior_scale': 0.707}
📊 Sample Dataset — Agriculture, Forestry & Aquatic
ℹ Note: The scenario, MerQur output and interpretation below were produced by actually running the real example dataset in MerQur. Numeric results on your own data will differ; the goal is to show how the analysis is set up and interpreted end-to-end.
🎬 Example File
This analysis is demonstrated on the following example dataset for Agriculture, Forestry & Aquatic:
Ziraat_Orman_Su/101_bayesian_t_test_new_old.xlsx
🎬 Scenario
We test the difference between two applications, new and old (group), on a measurement (value) from a Bayesian framework. The
classical t-test gives only a p-value; the Bayesian t-test, with the Bayes factor (BF10), answers “by how many times do the
data support one hypothesis over the other” and shows the posterior distribution of the effect size: how strong is the evidence
for a difference?
⚙️ Variable Selection
- Dependent (continuous): value
- Grouping (2 categories): group
Data Preview (First 5 Rows)
| unit_id | group | value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | old | 60.02 |
| 2 | old | 54.28 |
| 3 | old | 67.56 |
| 4 | old | 35.73 |
| 5 | old | 42.32 |
n = 80 · Columns: unit_id, group, value
📈 MerQur Output
─────────────────────────────────────────────
BF10 = 3.4 x 10^46 (decisive evidence, H1) Cohen’s d = 3.94 (value ~ group: new/old)
💬 Interpretation
We tested the difference between a new and an old application on a measurement from a Bayesian framework. The
classical t-test gives only a p-value; the Bayesian t-test, with the Bayes factor, answers “by how many times do
the data support one hypothesis over the other”. The result is staggering: BF10 = 3.4 x 10 to the 46. This means
the data support “a difference exists” over “no difference” by an astronomical ratio — far beyond “decisive
evidence”. Cohen’s d = 3.94 means the effect is enormous too. The beauty of the Bayes factor is doing what the
p-value cannot: it can also measure evidence FOR H0 and gives the STRENGTH of evidence on a continuous scale. Here
the difference is so clear that we can say the new application is decisively superior to the old.
⚠ Common Mistakes
- In one-sample mode, leaving μ₀ at zero produces astronomical BF values for Likert/score comparisons; enter the correct reference point.
- BF₁₀ > 3 and p < .05 do not always coincide — at small N, p may be significant while BF is weak.
- Do not skip reporting prior sensitivity (r = 0.5/0.707/1.0).
📚 MerQur’a Atıf
Örücü, Ö. K. (2026). MerQur: Integrated Academic Data Analysis & Reporting Platform [Computer software] (Version 1.0.0). https://doi.org/10.53463/merqur.2026001
📝 Üretim Notu — Bu sayfadaki örnek veri sentetik olarak üretilmiştir (sabit SEED=42, generator: samples/Ileri_Duzey_v102/_generate_v102_datasets.py). Sayfa içeriği Anthropic Claude desteği ile hazırlanmış, akademik doğruluk yazar tarafından kontrol edilmiştir.