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The use of extreme groups to test for the presence of a relationship

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Abstract

Experimenters in psychology frequently investigate the relationship between two variables by selecting extreme groups on the first measure and comparing their mean scores on the second. This paper considers the efficacy of this procedure from the criterion of the power of the statistical tests. Optimal cutting points for the extreme groups are defined, and the power of the difference approach is compared to that of significance tests for the productmoment correlation coefficient.

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Feldt, L.S. The use of extreme groups to test for the presence of a relationship. Psychometrika 26, 307–316 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289799

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289799

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