JAGS Model Conventions

Unless stated otherwise JAGS model code adopts the following naming conventions:

• Data variables are in upper camel case, i.e., DataVariable.
• In general an upper camel case name prefixed by a lower case character, i.e., bAlpha, indicates a parameter. More specifically still:
• sTerm indicates the standard deviation (SD) of Term.;
• and eDataVariable[i] is the expected value of DataVariable[i].
• An exception to the previous convention is that nFactor indicates the number of levels of a, by definition, discrete data variable Factor.

Where the terms are defined in a table it is assumed that:

• All effects are linear (as opposed to quadratic or cubic) unless stated otherwise.
• All effects are fixed (as opposed to random) unless stated otherwise.

For more information on fixed and random effects the reader is referred to Kery and Schaub (2011, 77–82).

References

Kery, Marc, and Michael Schaub. 2011. Bayesian Population Analysis Using WinBUGS : A Hierarchical Perspective. Boston: Academic Press. http://www.vogelwarte.ch/bpa.html.