Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
about Bayesian Statistical Methods for Bioassay, Radiochemistry, and Internal Dosimetry

FAQ 1. How do I get started understanding Bayesian statistics?

In our workshop, we had great luck with Don Berry's book (Berry 1996) for presenting the elements of Bayesian statistics.

While it's an excellent place to start, you'll need to go beyond Berry's book to gain an understanding of Bayesian statistics for bioassay and internal dosimetry. Read Little's paper (Little 1982) for a good treatment of the basic problem of statistical inference in radioactivity measurements. The Los Alamos National Laboratory papers (Miller et al. 1993, 1995) are more detailed and apply specifically to interpretation of bioassay measurements.

Although true Bayesians (such as Berry) may disagree, I feel that to really understand the Bayesian approach, you should understand the classical approach as originally described by Curry (1968), applied in ANSI N13.30 (HPS 1996). The best explanation of classical statistics in the context of radioactivity measurements that I have found is in Turner's second edition (Turner 1995), although he uses non-standard names for decision level (DL) and minimum detectable amount (MDA).

Check out the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory web site at http://www.pnl.gov/bayesian. From the web site you can link to Don Berry's slides from our workshop, Tom LaBone's slides, and Guthrie Miller's Primer and software.

References
Berry, D.A. Statistics: A Bayesian Perspective. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company; 1996.

Currie, L.A. Limits for Qualitative Detection and Quantitative Determination. Application to Radiochemistry. Analytical Chemistry 40(3):586-593; 1968.

Health Physics Society (HPS). Performance Criteria for Radiobioassay. An American National Standard. HPS N13.30-1996. New York: American National Standards Institute; 1996.

Little, R.J.A. The Statistical Analysis of Low-Level Radioactivity in the Presence of Background Counts. Health Physics 43(5):693-703; 1982.

Miller, G.; Inkret, W.C.; Martz, H.F. Bayesian Detection Analysis for Radiation Exposure. Radiation Protection Dosimetry 48(3):251-256; 1993.

Miller, G.; Inkret, W.C.; Martz, H.F. Bayesian Detection Analysis for Radiation Exposure, II. Radiation Protection Dosimetry 58(2):115-125; 1995.

Turner, J.E. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection. 2nd edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1995.

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