Trade Your Stats "Truths" for Stats Arguments...
Jeremy Taylor | Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 12:51AM Warning, this blog will be short, sweet, and a bit pithy. The two most common questions that I receive about statistical analyses, no matter what kind or purpose, is: "Am I doing it right?" or "Am I allowed to...(fill-in a variation of a common analysis here)?" My response to these questions is usually: "Sure, you can do whatever you want, but what will it mean if you do?" I've said for a few years now that I don't see statistics as being about find truths, but instead I see it as being about building arguments. The critical things is that you understand the impact of your statistical decisions.
Just like your high school math teachers told you, you must learn the rules before you can know when it is useful to break them. The same is true when building arguments with statistics. There aren't many things you can do when running a statistical analysis that are inherently "wrong". However, it is critical that you remain aware of the consequences or your statistical decisions. Next time you find yourself wondering if you are "allowed to" or are "supposed to" do something in an analysis that is not what is typically done, stop yourself from asking those questions and consider what would be different if you did it, and what would it mean for your interpretation?
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Reader Comments (3)
I need a really quick response to this question: Can moderator be correlated to the variables it's moderating?
Actually my supervisor has picked a topic for my dissertation which she really wants to work on.According to the research framework... perception of politics (POP) is the independent variable with Job insecurity as dependent and perception of support (POS) as moderator.My argument is with POS and POP being highly correlated...presence of perception of politics will hinder the perception of support to work as a moderator.But she isn't listening...this is my last hope or otherwise she will register my topic on her own... HELP!!!
It can be correlated with them, yes, but I can't say I know enough about your particular situation to know whether you are dealing with moderation or not...
Hey first Thanku for replying... Actually im taking aout Independant varaible perception of Politics (POP) being correlated with moderator that is perception of support(POS). and yes these two are correalted negatively. My question was can moderator and IV be correlated because as far as i know moderator should impact the relation between independent and dependant variable (Job insecurity JI). So if my moderator is being affected or is affecting independent variable directly, then is this a valid model?
POP--------->JI This is my theoratical Framework. My point is POP and POS can't be correlated (and i know they are,trust me) for POS to work as moderator.Perception on politics(POP)
/ if increases it will weaken perception of support in the inmates of an organization... then how still perception of support can reduce
POS the relation between POP and JI.
Please whatever but do reply/suggest anything i just need another point of view on this... i have been holding/fighting my supervisor very hard on this.She is pretty much annoyed but what can i do im still not convinced... i hav my gold medal at stake over this one. Please ppl do gimme your point of view. REGARDS