In statistics, moderation occurs when the relationship between two variables depends on a third variable, known as the moderator variable. The moderator variable affects the direction and/or strength of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. In regression analysis, a moderator variable is represented by an interaction term between the independent variable and the proposed moderator variable. The coefficient for the interaction term indicates the size and direction of the moderating effect. Moderation analysis is commonly used in the behavioral sciences to quantify the effect of potential moderator variables on relationships between other variables.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
In statistics, moderation occurs when the relationship between two variables depends on a third variable, known as the moderator variable. The moderator variable affects the direction and/or strength of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. In regression analysis, a moderator variable is represented by an interaction term between the independent variable and the proposed moderator variable. The coefficient for the interaction term indicates the size and direction of the moderating effect. Moderation analysis is commonly used in the behavioral sciences to quantify the effect of potential moderator variables on relationships between other variables.
In statistics, moderation occurs when the relationship between two variables depends on a third variable, known as the moderator variable. The moderator variable affects the direction and/or strength of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. In regression analysis, a moderator variable is represented by an interaction term between the independent variable and the proposed moderator variable. The coefficient for the interaction term indicates the size and direction of the moderating effect. Moderation analysis is commonly used in the behavioral sciences to quantify the effect of potential moderator variables on relationships between other variables.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
In statistics, moderation occurs when the relationship between two variables depends on a third variable, known as the moderator variable. The moderator variable affects the direction and/or strength of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. In regression analysis, a moderator variable is represented by an interaction term between the independent variable and the proposed moderator variable. The coefficient for the interaction term indicates the size and direction of the moderating effect. Moderation analysis is commonly used in the behavioral sciences to quantify the effect of potential moderator variables on relationships between other variables.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1/ 2
MODERATION
In statistics, moderation occurs when the relationship between two variables depends on a third variable. The third variable is referred to as the moderator variable or simply the moderator [1]. The effect of a moderating variable is characterized statistically as an interaction[1]; that is, a qualitative (e.g., sex, race, class) or quantitative (e.g., level of reward) variable that affects the direction and/or strength of the relation between dependent and independent variables. Specifically within a correlational analysis framework, a moderator is a third variable that affects the zero-order correlation between two other variables. In analysis of variance (ANOVA) terms, a basic moderator effect can be represented as an interaction between a focal independent variable and a factor that specifies the appropriate conditions for its operation (Baron and Kenny, 1986: p. 1174).
Moderation analysis in the behavioral sciences involves the use of linear multiple regression analysis or causal modelling[1]. To quantify the effect of a moderating variable in multiple regression analyses, regressing random variables Y on X, an additional term is added to the model. This term is the interaction between X and the proposed moderating variable [1].
Thus, for a response Y and two variables x1 and moderating variable x2,:
In this case, the role of x2 as a moderating variable is accomplished by evaluating b3, the parameter estimate for the interaction term[1]. See linear regression for discussion of statistical evaluation of parameter estimates in regression analyses.
Moderator Variable A moderator variable is the independent qualitative or quantitative variable that affects the relationship of the dependent and independent variables. In correlation, a moderator is a third variable that affects the correlation of two variables. In a casual relationship, if x is the predictor variable and y is a cause variable, then z is the moderator variable that affects the casual relationship of x and y. Most of the moderator variables measure casual relationship using regression coefficient. In ANOVA, the moderator variable effect is represented by the infraction effect between the dependent variable and the factor variable.
Assumptions in the moderator variable:
1. Casual assumption: When x variable is not randomized, then causation must be
assumed. The moderator variable can reversely effect the causation, if the causation between x and y is not presumed. 2. Moderator variable and casual variable relationship: The two variables, the moderator variable and the casual variable, should be independent. If x is a manipulated variable, then there should be no correlation between the moderator variable and the casual variable. 3. Measurement of moderator variable: Usually, the moderation effect is represented by the interaction effect between the x and z variable. In a multiple regression equation, the moderator variable is as follows: In this equation, the interaction effect between X and Z (or coefficient) measures the moderation effect.
1. Alternative moderator variable: In a non-linear relationship, a significant value of a
moderator variable does not prove the true moderator effect. Unless the moderator is a manipulated variable, we cannot say if the moderator variable is a true moderator or if it is just used as a proxy. 2. Level of measurement of moderator variable: The moderator variable is an independent variable that is used to measure the casual relationship. Like other independent variables, the moderator variable may be categorized or a continuous variable.
Linear vs. non-linear measurement of moderator variable: In a regression equation, when the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variable is linear, then the dependent variable may change when the value of the moderator variable changes. In a linear relationship, the following equation is used to represent the moderator variable effect:
In this equation, the relationship is linear and represents the interaction effect. When the relationship is non-linear, the following equation shows the effect of the moderator variable effect:
In this equation, the relationship between the dependent and the independent variable is non- linear, so and shows the interaction effect. In a repeated measure design moderator, the variable can also be used. In multi level modeling, if a variable predicts the effect size, that variable is called the moderator variable.
Methods for identifying the moderator variable:
Usually there are two methods that are used to identify the moderator variable: 1. Subgroup analysis: In subgroup analysis, to identify the moderator variable, the sample is split into subgroups on the basis of the third variable. In this method, to identify the moderator variable, regression analysis is employed to investigate the relationship between the predicator variable and the criterion of each subgroup variable. R2 measures the presence or absence of the moderator variable. 2. Moderated regression analysis: This is a regression based technique that is used to identify the moderator variable. To explain how MRA technique works, we can use the following example: Let (1) (2) (3) In this equation, if is not statistically significant, then Z is not a moderator variable, it is just an independent
variable. If is statistically significant, then Z will be a moderator variable.
