Correlation and regression analysis

Theoretical introduction

The lecture begins with a basic introduction (what are typical research questions, what kind of variables are used, what assumptions and requirements need to be met to apply the method), continues with an overview over fundamental equations (incl. some do-it-yourself in Excel and Octave), introduces then major regression types (standard, sequential/hierarchical, statistical/stepwise) and ends with some important issues (limitations, aspects to be attentive of, etc.). The lecture includes to practical examples for calculation: An LibreOffice/Excel-file with a demonstration how a correlation (i.e., a very simple regression with one variable; Example from Field (2018), Ch. 8) is calculated by hand, as well as a syntax file to run a regression analysis in MATLAB / Octave (from Tabachnik & Fidell (2013), Ch. 5.4; the data can also be found in a ZIP-file to replicate the analyses in SPSS).