Hey, some good news for a change! (Child psychology and Bayes)

Erling Rognli writes:

I just wanted to bring your attention to a positive stats story, in case you’d want to feature it on the blog. A major journal in my field (the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry) has over time taken a strong stance for using Bayesian methods, publishing an editorial in 2016 advocating switching to Bayesian methods:

Editorial: Bayesian benefits for child psychology and psychiatry researchers – Oldehinkel – 2016 – Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

And recently following up with inviting myself and some colleagues to write a brief introduction to Bayesian methods (where we of course recommend Stan):

Editorial perspective: Bayesian statistical methods are useful for researchers in child and adolescent mental health – Rognli – Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

I think this consistent editorial support really matters for getting risk-averse researchers to start using new methods, so I think the editors of the JCPP deserve recognition for contributing to improving statistical practice in this field.

No reason to think that Bayes and Stan will, by themselves, transform child psychology, but I think it’s a step in the right direction. As Rubin used to say, one advantage of Bayes is that the work you do to set up the model represents a bridge between experiment, data, and scientific understanding. It’s getting you to think about the right questions.