Individual and ecological correlation in a general context

✍ Scribed by Helena Chmura Kraemer

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1978
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 502 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 8756-6079
• DOI: 10.1002/bs.3830230203

✦ Synopsis

This is a methodological study, applicable to all levels of living systems, which contrasts systemwide measurea with measures of individual units or components. If one samples K Units and, in Unit i, samples ni observations of two characteristics, the correlation between them characteristics within a unit, the individual correlation, may be a different parameter from the correlation between summary measures of each unit, the ecological or systemwide correlation. If such a distinction is not taken into consideration in designing studies to evaluate relationships of characteristics of variable systems and in analyzing data from such studies, confusmg and inaccurate inferences may be drawn. This general methodological point is illustrated by a study of testosterone level and orgasmic frequency in the human male. KEY WORDS: intra-and intergroup correlation, hormones and behavior, interactions, research design, theoretical modeL DLJ ' The study of testosterone and its behavioral concomitants was supported by a grant from the Com- monwealth Foundation. The author is indebted to the research group conducting this study, Dr. David A.