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5: Tests for Multiple Measurement Variables

  • Page ID
    1745
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    • 5.1: Linear Regression and Correlation
      Use correlation/linear regression when you have two measurement variables, such as food intake and weight, drug dosage and blood pressure, air temperature and metabolic rate, etc. There's also one nominal variable that keeps the two measurements together in pairs, such as the name of an individual organism, experimental trial, or location. I'm not aware that anyone else considers this nominal variable to be part of correlation and regression.
    • 5.2: Spearman Rank Correlation
      Use Spearman rank correlation when you have two ranked variables, and you want to see whether the two variables covary; whether, as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase or decrease. You also use Spearman rank correlation if you have one measurement variable and one ranked variable; in this case, you convert the measurement variable to ranks and use Spearman rank correlation on the two sets of ranks.
    • 5.3: Curvilinear (Nonlinear) Regression
      Sometimes, when you analyze data with correlation and linear regression, you notice that the relationship between the independent (X) variable and dependent (Y) variable looks like it follows a curved line, not a straight line. In that case, the linear regression line will not be very good for describing and predicting the relationship, and the P value may not be an accurate test of the null hypothesis that the variables are not associated.
    • 5.4: Analysis of Covariance
      Use analysis of covariance (ancova) when you have two measurement variables and one nominal variable. The nominal variable divides the regressions into two or more sets.
    • 5.5: Multiple Regression
      Use multiple regression when you have three or more measurement variables. One of the measurement variables is the dependent (Y) variable. The rest of the variables are the independent (X) variables; you think they may have an effect on the dependent variable. The purpose of a multiple regression is to find an equation that best predicts the Y variable as a linear function of the X variables.
    • 5.6: Simple Logistic Regression
      Use simple logistic regression when you have one nominal variable with two values (male/female, dead/alive, etc.) and one measurement variable. The nominal variable is the dependent variable, and the measurement variable is the independent variable. I'm separating simple logistic regression, with only one independent variable, from multiple logistic regression, which has more than one independent variable.
    • 5.7: Multiple Logistic Regression
      Use multiple logistic regression when you have one nominal and two or more measurement variables. The nominal variable is the dependent (Y) variable; you are studying the effect that the independent (X) variables have on the probability of obtaining a particular value of the dependent variable. For example, you might want to know the effect that blood pressure, age, and weight have on the probability that a person will have a heart attack in the next year.


    This page titled 5: Tests for Multiple Measurement Variables is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by John H. McDonald via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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