Download User's Guide for SCORIGHT (Version 3.0): A Computer

Step 12: Enter the Name/Path Where the Output Files Should Be Stored
Because SCORIGHT generates many output files, the user may put all output files
within any user-specified subdirectory:
Please enter the name of the subdirectory (include the last backslash)
where you want to put the analysis results, and make sure that there
is no subdirectory called ‘‘ch1,’’ ‘‘ch2,’’ ...
under it:
c:\result\
Step 13: Enter the Number of Iterations for the Gibbs Sampler
SCORIGHT uses Gibbs sampling methods for inference. For the inferences to be valid,
the Gibbs sampler must have converged. The convergence rate depends on the data and
the initial values of the model parameters utilized. In this step, the user must specify the
number of iterations to run. Typically, this would be at least 4,000 iterations, with the
potential of a much larger number (Sinharay, 2004). One way to diagnose convergence of
the sampler and hence the minimum number of iterations, which we strongly recommend,
is to take the dataset and run multiple Markov chains with different starting values for the
parameters. Convergence would be indicated by similar output across the chains. Section 5
provides a convergence diagnostic and describes the ability to run multiple chains.
Enter the number of needed iterations of sampling:
4000
Step 14: Enter the Number of Initial Draws To Be Discarded
As mentioned in Step 13, the sampler must converge before valid inferences under the
model can be obtained. Therefore, iterations (and their draws) obtained prior to convergence
should be discarded for estimating quantities of interest. In this step, the user specifies
the number of initial iterations of draws to be discarded for inference purposes. For example:
15