brms-package: Bayesian Regression Models using Stan
Description
The brms package provides an interface to fit Bayesian generalized linear mixed models using Stan,
which is a C++ package for obtaining Bayesian inference using the No-U-turn sampler (see http://mc-stan.org/). The formula syntax is very similar to that of the package lme4 to provide a familiar and simple interface for performing regression analyses.Details
The main function of the brms package is brm, which creates the model in Stan language and fits it using Stan. Subsequently, a large number of methods can be applied: To get an overview on the estimated parameters, summary or plot are perfectly suited. Detailed visual analyses can be performed by applying the shinystan package, which can be called directly within brms using launch_shiny. Information Criteria are also readily available via WAIC and LOO both relying on the loo package.
Because brms is based on Stan, a C++ compiler is required. The program Rtools (available on https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/) comes with a C++ compiler for Windows. On Mac, you should use Xcode. We recommend to install rstan (available on CRAN) before installing brms. For further instructions see https://github.com/stan-dev/rstan/wiki/RStan-Getting-Started.References
The Stan Development Team Stan Modeling Language User's Guide and Reference Manual. http://mc-stan.org/.