2.011 - PDC02: An Introduction to Multiple Imputation for Educational Research

Session Type: Professional Development Course

Abstract

This introductory workshop introduces attendees to multiple imputation for missing data in educational research. The workshop addresses a number of practical issues that researchers are likely to encounter in their research, including mixtures of categorical and continuous variables, item-level missing data in questionnaires, interactive effects, and multilevel data. Analysis examples illustrate imputation with popular software packages.

The primary goal of this workshop is to provide participants with the skills necessary to understand and apply multiple imputation to their own data. Technical information will be presented in an accessible manner that is readily understandable by researchers who use, but do not specialize in, quantitative methods. Accordingly, the workshop will target practicing researchers (graduate students, professors, research professionals) who possess typical graduate- level statistics training, in particular, familiarity with multiple regression.

The workshop will provide a mixture of lecture and computer applications. Presentation software will be used to deliver the course content, and attendees will be provided with extensive handouts. Imputation will be illustrated using the Blimp application, which is available as a free download at www.appliedmissingdata.com. Blimp was developed as part of an Institute of Education Sciences-funded project, and the program implements a number of cutting-edge approaches that are not available in other software. Blimp produces multiply imputed data sets that interface with popular statistical software packages. Workshop handouts will include computer code and scripts that attendees can use to analyze multiply imputed data sets in Mplus, SAS, SPSS, Stata, and R.

Sub Unit

• Professional Development and Training Committee

Director

• Craig K. Enders, University of California - Los Angeles

Instructor

• Brian Keller, University of California - Los Angeles