Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Assumptions (cont.)

Normality of Residuals: you can check this by clicking the "Plots" button in your regression window and checking the two boxes (Histogram and Normal Probability Plot) in "Standardized Residual Plots."

Independence of Residuals (cont.): the same residual vs. predicted plot that you used for "homoscedasticity" and "correct relationship between DV and IV" can be a rough way of testing this. But another (I think better) way would be to make a boxplot similar to Figure 4.4.6 (C) on p. 135 of the text.

To do that:
1) create a residual variable.
a) in your linear regression window, click "Save"
b) check the box for "Standardized" under "Residuals."
c) run the analysis

2) go to Graph --> Chart Builder --> Boxplot --> Clustered Boxplot.

Now you can put the "Standardized Residual" on the Y axis, a categorical variable in the X axis clustered by another categorical variable. The medians should be similar if there is independence of residuals.

Technically, you could also transform height into a categorical variable to cluster around, but you guys are probably getting exhausted already. So don't worry about it.

You wouldn't have to worry about serial dependency because this is cross-sectional data.

Please ask if you have more questions.

Good luck!

1 comment:

David said...

I should add that for the independence of residuals, you can also make a plot like Figure 4.4.6 (A). To do that, go to Analyze --> Forecasting --> Sequence Chart. Set your residual (that you created) as your variable and click OK.