Spurious moderated mediation effect: A methodological remedy = 虛假調解中介效應: 排除方法的探討
Project title
Spurious moderated mediation effect: A methodological remedy = 虛假調解中介效應: 排除方法的探討
Principal Investigator
Department
Grant Awarding Body
Research Grants Council
Grant Type
Faculty Development Scheme
Project Code
UGC/FDS15/H10/20
Amount awarded
HK$634,280
Funding Year
2020-2021
Duration of the Project
24 months
Status
Ongoing
Abstract
A spurious effect is a null effect that is incorrectly found to be significant due to statistical artifacts. Under some conditions, a statistical method (e.g., correlation and regression analyses) may indicate the presence of an effect that does not actually exist (i.e., a spurious effect). Critically, if a statistical method has been extensively used, the likelihood of finding a spurious effect can also be high. In the past decade, a statistical method of moderated mediation analysis has been widely and increasingly employed. According to the Google Scholar Citation Index, the key papers that outline the use of moderated mediation analysis have been cited 43,404 times, indicating its extensive use in the past decade. In social science research, the use of moderated mediation analysis also increased exponentially over the past 13 years. With the extensive and emergent use of moderated mediation analysis, the likelihood of there being a spurious moderated mediation effect may also increase. And yet, limited research has been conducted exploring this spurious effect. To fill this gap, we initiate this timely project to investigate the spurious moderated mediation effect, bringing academic, practical and educational benefits to a range of beneficiaries in society...