Spatial Econometrics and Network Analysis as Means to Assess the Assumption of Independence in Higher Education Research

• In Event: 77.056 - Fairmont Royal York Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: 77.056-3 - Innovative Statistical Modeling and Methods

Abstract

The analysis of factors affecting credit accumulation among community college students remains a relevant research topic, particularly considering the current emphasis on outcome-based or performance-based funding policies. Arguably, an important factor affecting this outcome is social interdependence, a prevalent bias-generating problem in education research. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent to which outcome dependence can be measured by students’ ascription to the same major. The analyses relied on institutional data obtained from two community colleges located in different states (California and Georgia). Findings corroborated the presence of outcome interdependence given students’ major of ascription. Notably, the proposed analytic procedures successfully corrected this problem. These procedures are particularly important when analyzing factors affecting major dropout or stop-out.

Author

• Manuel S. Gonzalez Canche, University of Pennsylvania