The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo Results

Correlational measures are probably the most spread statistical tools in psychological research. They are used by researchers to investigate, for example, relations between self-report measures usually collected using paper-pencil or online questionnaires. Like many other statistical analysis, also...

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Main Authors: Marco Bressan, Yves Rosseel, Luigi Lombardi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01876/full
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author Marco Bressan
Yves Rosseel
Luigi Lombardi
author_facet Marco Bressan
Yves Rosseel
Luigi Lombardi
author_sort Marco Bressan
collection DOAJ
description Correlational measures are probably the most spread statistical tools in psychological research. They are used by researchers to investigate, for example, relations between self-report measures usually collected using paper-pencil or online questionnaires. Like many other statistical analysis, also correlational measures can be seriously affected by specific sources of bias which constitute serious threats to the final observed results. In this contribution, we will focus on the impact of the fake data threat on the interpretation of statistical results for two well-know correlational measures (the Pearson product-moment correlation and the Spearman rank-order correlation). By using the Sample Generation by Replacement (SGR) approach, we analyze uncertainty in inferences based on possible fake data and evaluate the implications of fake data for correlational results. A population-level analysis and a Monte Carlo simulation are performed to study different modulations of faking on bivariate discrete variables with finite supports and varying sample sizes. We show that by using our paradigm it is always possible, under specific faking conditions, to increase (resp. decrease) the original correlation between two discrete variables in a predictable and systematic manner.
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spelling doaj.art-4ad08ba4016a4889a8869177c2d86bea2022-12-22T01:32:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782018-10-01910.3389/fpsyg.2018.01876312432The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo ResultsMarco Bressan0Yves Rosseel1Luigi Lombardi2Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, ItalyDepartment of Data Analysis, Ghent University, Ghent, BelgiumDepartment of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, ItalyCorrelational measures are probably the most spread statistical tools in psychological research. They are used by researchers to investigate, for example, relations between self-report measures usually collected using paper-pencil or online questionnaires. Like many other statistical analysis, also correlational measures can be seriously affected by specific sources of bias which constitute serious threats to the final observed results. In this contribution, we will focus on the impact of the fake data threat on the interpretation of statistical results for two well-know correlational measures (the Pearson product-moment correlation and the Spearman rank-order correlation). By using the Sample Generation by Replacement (SGR) approach, we analyze uncertainty in inferences based on possible fake data and evaluate the implications of fake data for correlational results. A population-level analysis and a Monte Carlo simulation are performed to study different modulations of faking on bivariate discrete variables with finite supports and varying sample sizes. We show that by using our paradigm it is always possible, under specific faking conditions, to increase (resp. decrease) the original correlation between two discrete variables in a predictable and systematic manner.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01876/fullPearson correlationSpearman correlationsample generation by replacement (SGR)fake ordinal/discrete datapopulation analysisMonte Carlo simulations
spellingShingle Marco Bressan
Yves Rosseel
Luigi Lombardi
The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo Results
Frontiers in Psychology
Pearson correlation
Spearman correlation
sample generation by replacement (SGR)
fake ordinal/discrete data
population analysis
Monte Carlo simulations
title The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo Results
title_full The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo Results
title_fullStr The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo Results
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo Results
title_short The Effect of Faking on the Correlation Between Two Ordinal Variables: Some Population and Monte Carlo Results
title_sort effect of faking on the correlation between two ordinal variables some population and monte carlo results
topic Pearson correlation
Spearman correlation
sample generation by replacement (SGR)
fake ordinal/discrete data
population analysis
Monte Carlo simulations
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01876/full
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