Читать книгу Elementary Regression Modeling - Roger A. Wojtkiewicz - Страница 10

n important part of social science work is empirical verification of theoretical ideas. One approach to empirical verification is quantitative research in which numbers are used to express observed aspects of reality. The most important tool for quantitative research in the social sciences is regression analysis. Regression analysis involves using independent variables to explain the mean level of a dependent variable by estimating regression coefficients for the independent variables.

One application of regression analysis is to use sample data to estimate for the population the influence of an independent variable on a dependent variable. However, social scientists use regression analysis for broader purposes than simply producing coefficients to estimate effects of variables. In this book, I examine four broader uses of regression analysis:

 Control modeling

 Modeling interactions

 Using spline variables

 Testing research hypotheses

Each of the broader uses of regression analysis involves an in-depth examination of a regression effect as represented by a single coefficient. Thus, I define regression modeling in this book as the use of one or more regression equations to examine a particular coefficient in greater depth.