1. We have started going ¡­

1. We have started going through Ch 4, with applications, illustrations and a couple of tangents. We also examined techniques for demonstrating, in suitable cases, that the minimax solution is unique (and hence admissible). We shall later meet cases where the minimax solution is not unique.

2. Exercises for Oct 20: Exam Project 2008 #1. Also: Study the book's "running example" starting on p. 88, with the bioassay data. Provide Bayesian analysis of the LD50 parameter, (a) using the normal approximation, starting with a flat prior for (alpha, beta); (b) using the normal approximation, starting with a flat prior but with beta nonnegative; (c) using the exact posterior, with this flat prior with beta nonnegative. For point (c) you may choose a dense grid and apply the "sample" simulator.

3. I am needed for parts of Wed Oct 20 at another meeting, and will come back in a little while to the time implications for that day's lectures.