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On the practice of dichotomization of quantitative variables.
Open accessAbstract
The authors examine the practice of dichotomization of quantitative measures, wherein relationships among variables are examined after 1 or more variables have been converted to dichotomous variables by splitting the sample at some point on the scale(s) of measurement. A common form of dichotomization is the median split, where the independent variable is split at the median to form high and low groups, which are then compared with respect to their means on the dependent variable. The consequences of dichotomization for measurement and statistical analyses are illustrated and discussed. The use of dichotomization in practice is described, and justifications that are offered for such usage are examined. The authors present the case that dichotomization is rarely defensible and often will yield misleading results.
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“However, grouping loses information and may reduce statistical power [ 87 ] especially when dichotomization is used [ 82 , 85 , 88 ].”
From Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE): Explanation and Elaboration (2007) · cites this paper as [85]
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“In another survey, of the psychological literature, dichotomization was justified in only 22 of 110 articles (20%) [ 85 ].”
From Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE): Explanation and Elaboration (2007) · cites this paper as [85]
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“However, such dichotomisation will result in an unnecessary loss of statistical power and precision if continuous alternatives are available (MacCallum et al., 2002; Royston et al., 2006).”
From Rating norms should be calculated from cumulative link mixed effects models (2022) · cites this paper as MacCallum et al., 2002
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“Artificially dichotomizing continuous measures is rarely conceptually or statistically defensible, and frequently yields misleading results (MacCallum et al., 2002).”
From Do growth mindset interventions impact students’ academic achievement? A systematic review and meta-analysis with recommendations for best practices. (2023) · cites this paper as MacCallum et al., 2002
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How cross-language similarity and task demands affect cognate recognition
Dijkstra, T., Miwa, K., Brummelhuis, B., Sappelli, M., & Baayen, R. (2010) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2009.12.003 · Cited by 425
“Very similar results are obtained when the orthographic rating is dichotomized into high (>2) and low ( =2), although in general dichotomization is not advisable (see, e.g., Cohen, 1983, MacCallum et al., 2002).”
ResultMurphy, R. O., & Ackermann, K. A. (2013) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868313501745 · Cited by 396
“For a surprisingly long time it was a convention in psychology to dichotomize continuous variables for analyses (see MacCallum et al., 2002).”
BackgroundHankin, B., Fraley, R. C., Lahey, B. B., & Waldman, I. (2005) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.114.1.96 · Cited by 363
Best Practices for Using Median Splits, Artificial Categorization, and their Continuous Alternatives
Decoster, J., Gallucci, M., & Iselin, A.-M. R. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.5127/jep.008310 · Cited by 367
Childhood maltreatment and non-suicidal self-injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Liu, R. T., Scopelliti, K. M., Pittman, S. K., & Zamora, A. (2017) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(17)30469-8 · Cited by 413
Demes, K. A., & Geeraert, N. (2013) · Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022022113487590 · Cited by 375
“However, this approach seems to be flawed conceptually (Boski, 2008; Playford & Safdar, 2007; Rudmin, 2009) and statistically (DeCoster, Iselin, & Gallucci, 2009; Fitzsimons, 2008; MacCallum et al., 2002).”
BackgroundA more general model for testing measurement invariance and differential item functioning
Bauer, D. J. (2017) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/met0000077 · Cited by 363
“Additionally, any continuous characteristics would have to be discretized (e.g., by a median split), a practice that can reduce power and bias estimates (MacCallum et al., 2002).”
Testing Berry's model of acculturation: A confirmatory latent class approach.
Schwartz, S. J., & Zamboanga, B. L. (2008) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0012818 · Cited by 355
Brennan, N. A., Toubouti, Y., Cheng, X., & Bullimore, M. (2020) · Progress in retinal and eye research · doi:10.1016/j.preteyeres.2020.100923 · Cited by 329
Discrete Emotions and Persuasion: The Role of Emotion-Induced Expectancies.
DeSteno, D. A., Petty, R. E., Rucker, D. D., Wegener, D. T., & Braverman, J. (2004) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.1.43 · Cited by 348
Self-citationBurnout and Depression: Two Entities or One?
Schonfeld, I. S., & Bianchi, R. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22229 · Cited by 345
Two Traditions of Research on Gender Identity
Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2015) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-015-0480-2 · Cited by 348
A Systematic Review of Neighborhood Disparities in Point-of-Sale Tobacco Marketing
Lee, J. G. L., Henriksen, L., Rose, S. W., et al. (2015) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2015.302777 · Cited by 339
“Such categorization can reduce power to detect an effect.(77)”
Resilience Building in Students: The Role of Academic Self-Efficacy
Cassidy, S. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01781 · Cited by 495
“Hamill (2003) has explored this issue but using generalized measures of self-efficacy and coping responses in the context of general stressful life events in a small sample of 16–19 year old students—limitations which Hamil partly acknowledges.”
BackgroundFriendship versus Business in Marketing Relationships
Grayson, K. (2007) · Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1509/jmkg.71.4.121 · Cited by 378
“Thus, this measure was treated as a binary variable (MacCallum et al. 2002), in which a score less than or equal to 4 (“acquaintance”) was coded as 0 (“no previous friendship”) and a score greater than 4 was coded as 1 (“previously friends”).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialMultilevel models for the experimental psychologist: Foundations and illustrative examples
Hoffman, L., & Rovine, M. J. (2007) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/bf03192848 · Cited by 336
“However, because the categorization of continuous independent variables substantially reduces the power to detect effects and inflates Type I error rates, methodologists strongly discourage doing so (e.g., Cohen, 1983; MacCallum, Zhang, Preacher, & Rucker, 2002; Maxwell & Delaney, 1993).”
Fair Statistical Communication in HCI
Dragicevic, P. (2016) · Human-computer interaction series · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-26633-6_13 · Cited by 365
A prospective investigation of the development of borderline personality symptoms
Carlson, E. A., Egeland, B. R., & Sroufe, L. A. (2009) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579409990174 · Cited by 329
Fabrigar, L. R., Petty, R. E., Smith, S. M., & Crites, S. L. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.4.556 · Cited by 333
Characterizing the social diversity of bilingualism using language entropy
Gullifer, J. W., & Titone, D. A. (2019) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728919000026 · Cited by 332
Metadata
- Authors
- MacCallum, R. C., Zhang, S., Preacher, K. J., & Rucker, D. D.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Methods
- Published
- 2002
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 19-40
- ISSN
- 1082-989X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1463
- OpenAlex
- W2108096958
- Semantic Scholar
- 67646d3def337c40bbfa2476f0f1ff785ae18242
- Cited by
- 3,538
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 282 · 2025: 170 · 2024: 149 · 2023: 134 · 2022: 183 · 2021: 211 · 2020: 204 · 2019: 179 · 2018: 180 · 2017: 223 · 2016: 208 · 2015: 208 · 2014: 184 · 2013: 187 · 2012: 138
- FWCI
- 55.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Psychological Methods (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- KU ScholarWorks (The University of Kansas) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods and Applications
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods and Bayesian Inference
- Keywords
- dichotomization, quantitative variables, statistical analysis, change of variables, measurement error
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Models, Psychological, Psychology
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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