{"id":1529,"date":"2011-07-15T11:56:25","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T15:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theanalysisfactor.com\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2023-08-04T11:14:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T15:14:03","slug":"dummy-code-software-defaults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theanalysisfactor.com\/dummy-code-software-defaults\/","title":{"rendered":"Dummy Code Software Defaults Mess With All of Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my last blog post, I wrote about a mistake I once made when I didn’t realize the defaults for dummy coding were different<\/a> in two SPSS procedures (Binary Logistic and GEE).<\/p>\n

Ironically, about the same time I wrote it, I was having a conversation with Ann Maria de Mars on Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0 She was trying to figure out why her logistic regression model fit results were identical in SAS Proc Logistic and SPSS Binary Logistic, but the coefficients in SAS were half those of SPSS.<\/p>\n

It was ironic because I, of course, didn’t recognize it as the same issue and wasn’t much help.<\/p>\n

But Ann Maria investigated and discovered that it came down to differences in the defaults for coding categorical predictors in SAS and SPSS that did it.\u00a0 Her detailed and humorous explanation is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some takeaways for you, the researcher and data analyst:<\/p>\n

1. Give yourself a break if you hit a snag<\/strong>.\u00a0 Even very experienced data analysts, statisticians who understand what they’re doing, get stumped sometimes.\u00a0 Don’t ever think that performing data analysis is an IQ test.\u00a0 You’re bringing together many skills and complex tools.<\/p>\n

2. Learn thy software<\/strong>.\u00a0 In my last post, I phrased it “Know thy software”, but this is where you get to know it.\u00a0 Snags are good opportunities to investigate the details of your software, just like Ann Maria did.\u00a0 If you can think of it as a challenge to figure out–a puzzle–it can actually be fun.<\/p>\n

Make friends with your syntax manuals.<\/p>\n

3. Get help when you need it.<\/strong> Statistical software packages *are* complex tools. You don’t have to know everything to use them<\/p>\n

Ask colleagues.\u00a0 Call customer support. Call a stat consultant.\u00a0 That’s what they’re there for.<\/p>\n

4. A great way to check your work is to run your test two different ways<\/strong>.\u00a0 It’s another reason to be able to use at least two stat software packages.\u00a0 I’m not suggesting you have to run every analysis twice.\u00a0 But when a result looks strange, or you want to double-check a specific important model, this can be a good strategy for testing things out.<\/p>\n

It may be that your results aren’t telling you what you think they are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Logistic_Regression_Workshop]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The takeaway for you, the researcher and data analyst:<\/p>\n

1. Give yourself a break if you hit a snag. Even very experienced data analysts, statisticians who understand what they’re doing, get stumped sometimes. Don’t ever think that performing data analysis is an IQ test. You’re bringing together many skills and complex tools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1011,11,12],"tags":[166,717,718,719],"class_list":{"0":"post-1529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-logistic-regression","7":"category-optinmon-understanding-probability-odds-and-odds-ratios-in-logistic-regression","8":"category-sas","9":"category-spss","10":"tag-dummy-coding","11":"tag-logistic-regression","12":"tag-sas","13":"tag-spss","14":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nDummy Code Software Defaults Mess With All of Us - The Analysis Factor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theanalysisfactor.com\/dummy-code-software-defaults\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dummy Code Software Defaults Mess With All of Us - The Analysis Factor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The takeaway for you, the researcher and data analyst: 1. 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