An approximate Bayesian approach to regression estimation with many auxiliary variables

Abstract

<p>Model-assisted estimation with complex survey data is an important practical problem in survey sampling. When there are many auxiliary variables, selecting significant variables associated with the study variable would be necessary to achieve efficient estimation of population parameters of interest. In this paper, we formulate a regularized regression estimator in the framework of Bayesian inference using the penalty function as the shrinkage prior for model selection. The proposed Bayesian approach enables us to get not only efficient point estimates but also reasonable credible intervals for population means. Results from two limited simulation studies are presented to facilitate comparison with existing frequentist methods.</p>