ERIC Number: EJ1060471
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0973
EISSN: N/A
Examining the Rule of Thumb of Not Using Multilevel Modeling: The "Design Effect Smaller than Two" Rule
Lai, Mark H. C.; Kwok, Oi-man
Journal of Experimental Education, v83 n3 p423-438 2015
Educational researchers commonly use the rule of thumb of "design effect smaller than 2" as the justification of not accounting for the multilevel or clustered structure in their data. The rule, however, has not yet been systematically studied in previous research. In the present study, we generated data from three different models (which differ in the location of the clustering effect). With a 3 (design effect) × 5 (cluster size) × 4 (number of clusters) Monte Carlo simulation study we found that the rule should not be applied when researchers: (a) are interested in the effects of higher-level predictors, or (b) have a cluster size less than 10. Implications of the findings and limitations of the study are discussed.
Descriptors: Educational Research, Research Design, Cluster Grouping, Statistical Data, Statistical Analysis, Sample Size, Research Problems, Correlation, Sampling, Monte Carlo Methods, Hierarchical Linear Modeling, Regression (Statistics), Equations (Mathematics), Statistical Bias, Error of Measurement, Predictor Variables
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A