  We estimate the probability of detecting a gravitational wave signal from
coalescing compact binaries in simulated data from a ground-based
interferometer detector of gravitational radiation using Bayesian model
selection. The simulated waveform of the chirp signal is assumed to be a
spin-less Post-Newtonian (PN) waveform of a given expansion order, while the
searching template is assumed to be either of the same Post-Newtonian family as
the simulated signal or one level below its Post-Newtonian expansion order.
Within the Bayesian framework, and by applying a reversible jump Markov chain
Monte Carlo simulation algorithm, we compare PN1.5 vs. PN2.0 and PN3.0 vs.
PN3.5 wave forms by deriving the detection probabilities, the statistical
uncertainties due to noise as a function of the SNR, and the posterior
distributions of the parameters. Our analysis indicates that the detection
probabilities are not compromised when simplified models are used for the
comparison, while the accuracies in the determination of the parameters
characterizing these signals can be significantly worsened, no matter what the
considered Post-Newtonian order expansion comparison is.
