multilevel random coefficient analyses of event- and interval-contingent data in social and personality psychology research
Abstract
Increasingly, social and personality psychologists are conducting studies in which data are collected simultaneously at multiple levels, with hypotheses concerning effects that involve multiple levels of analysis. In studies of naturally occurring social interaction, data describing people and their social interactions are collected simultaneously. This article discuses how to analyze such data using random coefficient modeling. Analyzing data describing day-to-day social interaction is used to illustrate the analysis of event-contingent data (when specific events trigger or organize data collection), and analyzing data describing reactions to daily events is used to illustrate the analysis of interval-contingent data (when data are collected at intervals). Different analytic strategies are presented, the shortcomings of ordinary least squares analyses are described, and the use of multilevel random coefficient modeling is discussed in detail. Different modeling techniques, the specifics of formulating and testing hypotheses, and the differences between fixed and random effects are also considered.
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Multilevel models take into account that data is nested within persons and reduce the likelihood of Type I errors.
“MLMs take into account that data is nested within persons, i.e., the observations are not independent (56) and reduce the likelihood of Type I errors (57).”
From Predicting Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Smartphone and Wearable Data (2021) · cites this paper as [56]
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- Authors
- Nezlek, J. B.
- Affiliations
- William & Mary (US)
- Corresponding author
- Nezlek, John B.
- ORCID
- Nezlek, John B.
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2001-07
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 771-785
- ISSN
- 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7433
- OpenAlex
- W2034227497
- Cited by
- 676
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 24.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods and Bayesian Inference
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- daily social interactions, within-person variability, fixed and random effects, hypothesis testing
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