Regression with Dummy Variables

by Melissa A. Hardy

It is often necessary for social scientists to study differences in groups, such as gender or race differences in attitudes, buying behavior, or socioeconomic characteristics. When the researcher seeks to estimate group differences through the use of independent variables that are qualitative, dummy variables allow the researcher to represent information about group membership in quantitative terms without imposing unrealistic measurement assumptions on the categorical variables. Beginning with the simplest model, Hardy probes the use of dummy variable regression in increasingly complex specifications, exploring issues such as: interaction, heteroscedasticity, multiple comparisons and significance testing, the use of effects or contrast coding, testing for curvilinearity, and estimating a piecewise linear regression.

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 1993

Reviews

[Destini Petitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very hard to understand. It would be very helpful if the author used different terms throughout or had an appendix listing terms and their descriptions. If the book were structured different, it would be able to reach more audiences, therefore, becoming more impactful. I understand that the book was written with a certain audience in mind, however, even the students that were social scientists in my class had a very difficult time understanding the concepts in this book.