Bayesian Inference
A statistical method updating the probability of a hypothesis as new evidence is obtained.
Also: Bayesian analysis · Bayes' theorem
Definition
Bayesian inference is a method of statistical reasoning that updates the probability estimate for a hypothesis (the posterior probability) as new data or evidence becomes available, using Bayes' Theorem. It combines prior beliefs (prior probability) with the likelihood of observing the data given the hypothesis. Bayesian methods are widely used in machine learning, medical diagnosis, spam filtering, and scientific research.
Example
“A doctor uses Bayesian inference to update the probability that a patient has a disease after a positive test result: the result is combined with the known base rate of the disease and the test's sensitivity and specificity to give a more accurate assessment.”
Synonyms
- Bayes' theorem application
- probabilistic inference
- posterior probability update
Antonyms / Opposites
- frequentist inference
Images
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Related Terms
- Probability
- Statistics
- Machine Learning
- Conditional Probability