Improving Regression Models

Herbert J. Walberg and Sue Pinzur Rasher

Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 1976, vol. 1, issue 3, 253-277

Abstract: This paper illustrates cut-and-try techniques that point to appropriate transformations of variables and to the selection of sets of variables for an equation that may improve understanding of a social process. The substance of the research reported — the relation of mental test results to state population, cultural, and school resource indexes (Walberg and Rasher, 1974) — illustrates typical problems of behavioral data: multi-colinearity, outliers, abnormal distributions, and the lack of a consensually-validated, explicit theoretical model. Despite these problems, data originally collected for purposes other than the investigator’s may yield tentative confirmations or cautions about prior findings and provisional indications for theory or policy; such inferences may be at least partially checked by cross-validation on independent or semi-independent sets of data. After discussing the sequence of analyses and the results, we conclude by mentioning a number of uncertainties and reservations about drawing substantive or policy implications.

Keywords: Models; Regression; Transformation; Outliers; Analysis, Multivariate; Residuals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1976
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jedbes:v:1:y:1976:i:3:p:253-277

DOI: 10.3102/10769986001003253

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