×

A Bayesian decision theoretic model of sequential experimentation with delayed response. (English) Zbl 1380.62027

Summary: We propose a Bayesian decision theoretic model of a fully sequential experiment in which the real-valued primary end point is observed with delay. The goal is to identify the sequential experiment which maximizes the expected benefits of technology adoption decisions, minus sampling costs. The solution yields a unified policy defining the optimal ‘do not experiment’ – ‘fixed sample size experiment’ – ‘sequential experiment’ regions and optimal stopping boundaries for sequential sampling, as a function of the prior mean benefit and the size of the delay. We apply the model to the field of medical statistics, using data from published clinical trials.

MSC:

62C10 Bayesian problems; characterization of Bayes procedures
62P10 Applications of statistics to biology and medical sciences; meta analysis
62L05 Sequential statistical design
PDFBibTeX XMLCite
Full Text: DOI Link