Bayesian Linear Mixed Models: Random Intercepts, Slopes, and Missing Data

This past summer, I watched a brilliant lecture series by Richard McElreath on Bayesian statistics. It honestly changed my whole outlook on statistics, so I couldn't recommend it more (plus, McElreath is an engaging instructor). One of the most compelling cases for using Bayesian statistics is with a collection of statistical tools called linear mixed models or multilevel/hierarchical models. It's common that data are grouped or clustered in some way. Often in psychology we have repeated observations nested within participants, so we know that data coming from the same participant will share some variance. Linear mixed models are powerful tools for dealing with multilevel data, usually in the form of modeling random intercepts and random slopes.