Cited by 1,564Psychometric Methodologies and TestingStatistical Methods and ApplicationsStatistical Methods and Bayesian Inference

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The Cost of Dichotomization

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Cohen, Jacob·1983·Applied Psychological Measurement

DOI 10.1177/014662168300700301

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Abstract

Assuming bivariate normality with correlation r, dichotomizing one variable at the mean results in the reduction in variance accounted for to .647r²; and dichotomizing both at the mean, to .405r². These losses, in turn, result in reduction in statistical power equivalent to discarding 38% and 60% of the cases under representative conditions. As dichotomization departs from the mean, the costs in variance accounted for and in power are even larger. Consequences of this practice in measurement applications are considered. These losses may not be quite so large in real data, but since methods are available for making use of all the original scaling information, there is no reason to sustain them.

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Cohen, J., 1977, Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences
Cohen, J., 1983, Applied multiple regression/ correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences
10.1037/h0036539 · DOI
10.1037/13596-000 · DOI

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BackgroundInfluential
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Camminatiello, I., D'Ambra, A., & D'Ambra, L. (2021) · Metron · doi:10.1007/s40300-021-00224-7
Neither the pan-immune-inflammation value nor the PILE score improved on APACHE-II or SOFA in a single-center cohort of critically ill older patients with acute myeloid leukemia
Karcıoğlu, A. M., KAYA, S. K., Atlı, H. Z., Acar, E., & Gunes, A. K. (2026) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2026.1955731
Loss of power by degree of heaping in covariables
Becher, M., Sauerbrei, W., & Becher, H. (2026) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/s12874-026-03043-4
“Although several critical issues are known for decades [16, 18], dichotomization of continuous variables is still very popular in many areas of research.”
Sex-differences in resting state dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: comparing motion correction methods in resting state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)
Ankit, J. H. A., & Singh, V. (2026) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/s00429-026-03201-w
“While dichotomization is known to reduce statistical power and discard individual-level variability (Cohen 1983), this approach was necessary due to significantly higher depression and anxiety scores in women and to avoid confounding sex and comorbidity status.”
Auditing Scoring Architecture in Financial Capability Surveys: Monte Carlo Evidence and a Peruvian Workplace Case on Perceived Financial Freedom
Menéndez, F. M. M., Vittes, J. F. V. Y. R., Tapia, N. G. S., Espinoza, J. A. C., Barzola-Capcha, E. B., Infantes, M. S., Canchan-Casas, M. R., González-Prida, V., & Zacarías-Vallejos, S. R. (2026) · Journal of risk and financial management · doi:10.3390/jrfm19100779
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Gu, H.-L., Hu, Y.-H., Zhong, Q., Cheng, Y.-F., & Fang, J. (2026) · Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1111/aphw.70242
Examining the impact of pre-treatment life stressor exposure and sleep reactivity on chronic insomnia symptoms and response to cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia
Garneau, J., Perrault, A., Borgetto, F., Smith, D., Cross, N., Gong, K., Maltezos, A., Tarelli, L., Savard, J., Schwartz, S., et al. (2026) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2026.109336
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Sources of Stress in Relation to Sleep Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the National Couples' Health and Time Study.
Mendez, I., Singh, R., Jackson, C., Hinerman, A. S., Rodriquez, E., Martinez, E., Camargo, J., & Pérez-Stable, E. (2026) · Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · doi:10.1007/s40615-026-03100-0
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“Finally, a methodological limitation of this study is the dichotomization of ordinal and continuous variables, which entails a loss of information and reduced statistical power (Cohen, 1983).”
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Tampubolon, G. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1879570
“Already in 1983 Cohen wrote, “since methods are available for making use of all the original scale information there is no reason to sustain [dichotomizing practice]” (34).”
Virginia parents’ knowledge of juvenile sex offense registration laws
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Polishing the meta-problem of consciousness: empirical evidence for non-English speakers
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Evaluating the prognostic value of mutational signatures in small-cell lung cancer through reference-based signature assignment and continuous activity analysis
Garg, R., Glasmacher, K. A., Augert, A., & Townsend, J. P. (2026) · Frontiers in Genetics · doi:10.3389/fgene.2026.1776578
“Indeed, applying a binary threshold to a naturally continuous parameter is often arbitrary and problematic (Cohen, 1983; Giannoni et al., 2014).”
Psychological insights into school-age Greek rowers at Interscholastic Regatta: a cross-sectional study
Dimakopoulou, E., Ntomali, S., Kaloupsis, S., Karydaki, M., & Bampouras, T. M. (2026) · BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1186/s13102-026-01875-7
“Therefore, and although some loss of power is inevitable due to the classification of continuous scores into categories, it is not as pronounced as dichotomisation (reported to lose ~ 40% power; [4], while it enables the analysis of state anxiety in relation to the orientation dominance.”
Avatar projection and movement analysis system using an inside-out tracking virtual reality device: enabling the virtual reality multi-target stepping task outside the laboratory
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From significance to substance: making moderation meaningful in marketing research
To, L. (2026) · Italian Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1007/s43039-026-00140-6
“Cohen ( 1983) showed that dichotomizing continuous variables substantially reduces statistical power, with mean-split dichotomization lowering effective sample size by about 30–40%, and double dichotomization reducing it by up to two-thirds.”

Authors: Cohen, J.
Affiliations: New York University (US)
Corresponding author: Cohen, Jacob
Venue: Applied Psychological Measurement
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 1983-06
Volume: 7
Issue: 3
Pages: 249-253
ISSN: 0146-6216 (ISSN-L)
1552-3497
DOI: 10.1177/014662168300700301
OpenAlex: W1987838173
Cited by: 1,564
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 67 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 59 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 91 · 2017: 78 · 2016: 66 · 2015: 79 · 2014: 86 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 60
FWCI: 3.58
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
purl.umn.edu
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Applied Psychological Measurement (publishedVersion)
University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota) (submittedVersion)
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, variable reduction, bivariate normal distribution, correlation, variance accounted for, statistical power, measurement loss, scale reduction

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The Cost of Dichotomization

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