Moderating Effects with Seemingly Uncorrelated Variable

I received a great question this week, which asked: In order for a moderating relationship to exist, do the predictor IV and dependent variable need to be significantly correlated?". This is a question that I am asked a lot, partly because of the common confusion between mediators and moderators and the commonly held belief that an IV and DV should be related for mediation to be present (see my video blog on Mediators, Moderators, and Suppressors for more info on this topic). However, moderators are a completely different story...

Using Syntax to Assign 'Variable Labels' and 'Value Labels' in SPSS

Preparing a dataset for analysis is an arduous process. Besides recoding and cleaning variables, a diligent data analyst also must assign variable labels and value labels, unless they choose to wait until after your output is exported to Microsoft Word. Unfortunately, that option only leaves additional opportunity for error and confusion, not to mention the inefficiency of editing tables in Microsoft Word...

How to Create APA Formatted Tables in SPSS

The video tutorial demonstrates how to make SPSS produce output tables in APA, doing much of the "heavy lifting" for you!

Video TutorialsJeremy J. TaylorMarch 22, 2011apa format, statistics, stats, tables, videos, spss Comments

Confusing Stats Terms Explained: Residual

When I hear the word "residual", the pulp left over after I drink my orange juice pops into my brain, or perhaps the film left on the car after a heavy rain. However, when my regression model spits out an estimate of my model's residual, I'm fairly confident it isn't referring to OJ or automobile gunk...right? Not so fast, that imagery is more similar to it's statistical meaning than you might initially think.

Confusing Stats Terms Explained: Multicollinearity

Multicollinearity said in "plain English" is redundancy. Unfortunately, it isn't quite that simple, but it's a good place to start. Put simply, multicollinearity is when two or more predictors in a regression are highly related to one another, such that they do not provide unique and/or independent information to the regression.

Top Ten Tips for Data Analysis to Make Your Research Life Easier!

While there is no "magic bullet" to make stats and data analysis easy to understand and helpful in our research, there are some things that you can do to avoid pitfalls and help things run smoothly. This "top ten" list offers a few of those things that I think you will find helpful! I'll be posting a video of this list later today on my Stats Videos page.

Bonferroni Correction In Regression: Fun To Say, Important To Do.

The Bonferroni correction is only one way to guard against the bias of repeated testing effects, but it is probably the most common method and it is definitely the most fun to say. I've come to consider it as critical to the accuracy of my analyses as selecting the correct type of analysis or entering the data accurately. Unfortunately adjustments for repeated testing of hypotheses, as a whole, remains something that is often overlooked by researchers and the consequences may very well be inaccurate results and misleading inferences. In this independence day blog, I'll discuss why the Bonferroni Correction should be as important as apple pie on the 4th of July.

How to Define Variable Sets in SPSS

This video podcast demonstrates how to use the rarely-used "Define Variable Sets" function of SPSS (PASW) to organize and keep focused on your data.

Video TutorialsJeremy J. TaylorJune 28, 2010dissertation, research, statistics, stats, stats tutorials, videos, datasets, spssComment

How To Run a Multiple Regression in SPSS

Episode 4 demonstrates how to run a multiple regression in SPSS.

How To Use SPSS Syntax Without "Knowing" Syntax

The video tutorial demonstrates how to make SPSS produce output tables in APA, doing much of the "heavy lifting" for you!

Video TutorialsJeremy J. TaylorJune 14, 2010how to, syntax, videos, spssComment

Data Transformations: statistical voodoo or truth serum for your data?

Anyone that has taken a statistics class has probably learned about transforming data, at one time or another (although you may be in denial about it).In short, you may want to transform your data if you need to perform a parametric analysis, but the inherent assumptions are violated in your dataset.

How To Test for Mediators, Moderators, and Suppressor

Mediators, Moderators, and Suppressors are two of the most often confused statistical concepts in social science research. Our first installment of The Stats Make Me Cry Guy's Deviant Square Video Podcast clarifies the confusion that surrounds these concepts, and hopeful gets a laugh or two in the process!

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