*Translational book: a reference and text that makes developments in Bayesian methods accessible to social science researchers.
*Helps social scientists better examine the predictive quality of proposed models by incorporating prior knowledge.
*Includes worked-through examples from large, publicly accessible datasets, which are built on throughout the book.
*Uses open-source R software programs, such as MCMCpack and JAGS; readers do not have to master the R language.
*Online supplement: companion website provides R programs used in the book, plus data and code for the book's examples.