The cost of dichotomization
1983
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The cost of dichotomization
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1983
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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, Jacob. (1983). The cost of dichotomization. Applied Psychological Measurement, 7, 249-253. doi:10.1177/014662168300700301
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Cohen, Jacob. (1983). The cost of dichotomization. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/107497.
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