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Re: overfitting in explorative studies

Posted by Art Kendall on Feb 01, 2011; 1:15pm
URL: http://spssx-discussion.165.s1.nabble.com/overfitting-in-explorative-studies-tp3365835p3366176.html

Off hand I cannot think of a situation where that would be advisable.  As to what else to do, lot depends on the nature of the variables and the nature of the phenomena under consideration.  For example, in some subject matter areas such as when the variables are attitude items, it is more conventional to explore whether variables can be used as items in a summative score.

It might be possible for members of this list to make more specific suggestions if you were to describe the situation.
What is the substantive nature of the research?
What is the nature of a case?  How were they selected?
How are your independent and dependent variables measured?
How and why was the data gathered?
What levels of measurement are there?
Are there subsets of the independent variables  which might be grouped with regard to semantics?
Are there substantively different subsets of cases? Attitudes, values, symptoms, etc.
Where does the current effort stand in the research agenda?
How complex might plausible models be?  Is the existence of suppressors, moderators, interactions plausible?


Art Kendall
Social Research Consultants



On 2/1/2011 4:12 AM, Antoon Smulders wrote:
Hello list,
 
From Michael A. Babyak I cite: “One very common way of selecting variables for regression models is to look at the univariate relation between each variable and the response, and then to cull only those variables significant for entry into the subsequent regression analysis”. Babyak objects to such a procedure, but his article mainly seems to address hypothesis testing studies.
However I would like to ask the experts on this list, if it is allowed and/or useful  to do this in an explorative context. Your opinions are welcome.
 
Antoon Smulders
 
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Art Kendall
Social Research Consultants