Data collected from surveys can result in hundreds of variables and thousands of respondents. This implies that time and energy must be devoted to (a) carefully entering the data into a database, (b) running preliminary analyses to identify any problems (e.g., missing data, potential outliers), (c) checking the reliability and validity of the…

Reviews of statistical procedures (e.g., Bangert & Baumberger, 2005; Kieffer, Reese, & Thompson, 2001; Warne, Lazo, Ramos, & Ritter, 2012) show that one of the most common multivariate statistical methods in psychological research is multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). However, MANOVA and its associated procedures are often not…

C. Huberty (1994) recently noted that "It is quite common to find the use of 'stepwise analyses' reported in empirically based journal articles." Stepwise methods are used (incorrectly) by some researchers either to select variables to retain for further analyses or to evaluate the relative importance of various variables. Of course,…

Social science research often entails the comparison of two or more groups. For example, researchers may explore differences between sexes, races, ethnicities, sexual identities, treatment conditions, diagnostic categories, or various other grouping variables. While there are a number of ways to approach these comparisons, applied social science…

This paper presents three variable selection strategies in discriminate analysis (all variables in the model, use of stepwise methods, and all possible subsets). All three methods are illustrated through examples. Although the all variables in the model and the stepwise methods are the most widely used, B. Thompson (1996) and C. Huberty (1994)…

Both predictive discriminant analysis (PDA) and descriptive discriminant analysis (DDA) require a decision to pool group covariance matrices, or alternatively, to retain separate group covariance matrices when the group covariance matrices are too dissimilar to pool. Pooling the group covariance matrices involves the so-called "linear"…

Prediction of group membership is the goal of predictive discriminant analysis (PDA) and the accuracy of group classification is the focus of PDA. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how PDA works and how it can be used to answer a variety of research questions. The paper explains what PDA is and why it is important, and it…

This paper discusses how a seldom-used statistical procedure, recursive regression (RR), can numerically and graphically illustrate data-driven nonlinear relationships and interaction of variables. This routine falls into the family of exploratory techniques, yet a few interesting features make it a valuable compliment to factor analysis and…

Objective: The authors' aim in this study was to determine, after adjustment for the effects of body mass index and socio-demographic measures, whether sex-specific weight control norms would have significant independent relationships with the weight control behavior of college women and men. Participants: The authors used an anonymous…

Although the debate about whether an individual with a life-threatening illness should have the right to hasten his or her death continues, few researchers have examined why someone might consider such an option. This study examined factors that contribute to consideration of hastening death among people with life-threatening illnesses. A…

The use of stepwise methodologies has been sharply criticized by several researchers, yet their popularity, especially in educational and psychological research, continues unabated. Stepwise methods have been considered particularly well suited for use in regression and discriminant analyses, but their use in discriminant analysis (predictive…

A review of the literature reveals that important statistical algorithms and indices pertaining to logistic regression are being underused. This paper describes logistic regression in comparison with discriminant analysis and linear regression, and suggests that some techniques only accessible through computer syntax should be consulted in…

Discusses information visualization techniques and introduces a visual term discrimination value analysis method using a document density space within a distance-angle-based visual information retrieval environment. Explains that applications of these methods facilitate more effective assignment of term weights to index terms within documents and…

A particular strategy for investigating effects resulting from a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is proposed. The strategy involves multiple two-group multivariate analyses. The two groups result from considering multivariate pairwise group contrasts or multivariate complex group contrasts. Assuming a given two-group analysis yields…

A linear regression function is developed for use in a classification procedure. The procedure is applied to faculty merit review data, resulting in an interpretable regression function and within-sample classifications as good as a four-funtion discriminant analysis. (Author/BW)