Robust learning Bayesian networks for prior belief

Abstract: Recent reports have described that learning Bayesian networks are highly sensitive to the chosen equivalent sample size (ESS) in the Bayesian Dirichlet equivalence uniform (BDeu). This sensitivity often engenders some unstable or undesirable results. This paper describes some asymptotic analyses of BDeu to explain the reasons for the sensitivity and its effects. Furthermore, this paper presents a proposal for a robust learning score for ESS by eliminating the sensitive factors from the approximation of log-BDeu.