2.2.3. Model Selection

The model goodness of fit was assessed based on the Deviance Information Criteria (DIC) that states that the smaller the value of the DIC the better is the model fit [23,24] and the DIC value is given by:

$$\text{DIC} = \overline{D} + \text{pD} \tag{4}$$

where *D* is the posterior mean of the deviance and pD is the number of effective parameters in the model that penalize the complexity of the model. The DIC takes both the model fit (summarized by *D*) and the model complexity (captured by pD) into consideration when comparing models.
