Deck 11: Moderation, Mediation and Multicategory Predictors

Question 1

What would you have to create in order to include categorical predictors in a moderation or mediation analysis?

A) Dummy variables
B) Zombie variables
C) Z variables
D) Extraneous variables

Answer 1

Dummy variables

Question 2

In the data analyst's research on online gaming, studying and male adolescents' academic performance (Gaming (centred), b = 0.190, t = 3.23, p = 0.015), which is the mediator variable?

A) Studying
B) Test score
C) Online gaming
D) The Z-score

Answer 2

Online gaming

Question 3

What is the interaction effect?

A) The combined effect of two or more predictor variables on an outcome variable
B) The single effect of one predictor on an outcome variable
C) The combined effect of one predictor on more than one outcome variable
D) The effect of a categorical variable on an outcome variable

Answer 3

The combined effect of two or more predictor variables on an outcome variable

Question 4

A data analyst for a large chain of supermarkets conducted trials testing the influence of the helpfulness of shop floor staff and sales income. She found a significant relationship between the two variables, increased helpfulness of shop floor staff was associated with increased sales income. However, at the same time as the trials were conducted the majority of the supermarkets underwent redesigns of their layouts to make customer flow through the shop floor easier. The data analyst wondered to what extent the new shop floor designs might also have influenced sales income. What sort of analysis should she conduct to explore this further?

A) Mediation
B) Moderation
C) Multi-Level Modelling
D) Multiple Linear regression

Question 5

Why is centring variables important in moderation analysis?

A) It ensures that all effects are removed.
B) It allows errors to be detected
C) It allows higher order effects to be interpretable
D) It allows lower-order effects to be interpretable

Question 6

How would you interpret the following Sobel Test results: b = 0.134, z = 1.29, p = 0.510?

A) There is a direct effect between the mediator variable and the outcome and predictor variables.
B) There is an indirect effect between the mediator variable and the outcome and predictor variables
C) There is no indirect effect between the mediator variable and the outcome and predictor variables
D) There is no direct effect between the mediator variable and the outcome and predictor variables

Question 7

What is a moderator variable?

A) A variable that has no effect on the relationship between the predictor and outcome variables.
B) A variable that affects the relationship between the predictor and outcome variables.
C) An alternative name for the predictor variable in a regression model
D) An alternative name for the outcome variable in a regression model

Question 8

The marketing analyst conducted further testing on the celebrity driven marketing campaign's relationship to sales of the new skincare product; building on her previous test, she was interested in the potential mediating effects of consumer age. She conducted a mediation analysis and had the following output:
B = 0.31, 95% CI [0.01, 0.30], p = 0.054. How would you interpret her results?

A) There is no indirect effect between the celebrity driven marketing campaign and sales of the new skincare product mediated by consumer age
B) There is a direct effect between the celebrity driven marketing campaign and sales of the new skincare product not mediated by consumer age
C) There is an indirect effect between the celebrity driven marketing campaign and sales of the new skincare product mediated by consumer age
D) There is an indirect effect between the celebrity driven marketing campaign and sales of the new skincare product not mediated by consumer age

Question 9

A marketing analyst conducted a market research test on the influence of a celebrity driven advertising campaign on sales of a new skincare product, which had the following result: b = 0.46, p = 0.02. How would you interpret her results?

A) A direct effect between the celebrity driven advertising campaign and sales of the skincare product
B) No direct effect between the celebrity driven advertising campaign and sales of the skincare product
C) No indirect effect between the celebrity driven advertising campaign and sales of the skincare product
D) An indirect effect between the celebrity driven advertising campaign and sales of the skincare product

Question 10

A data analyst for a large games software company conducted research into the influence of online gaming (measured in minutes daily spent playing online games) and studying (measured in minutes daily spent studying) on male adolescents' academic performance (measured by an end of term test score). She reported the following:
Gaming (centred), b = 0.190, t = 3.23, p = 0.015. How would you interpret her findings?

A) At the mean value of online gaming, there is a significant negative relationship between studying and test score.
B) At the mean value of online gaming, there is a significant positive relationship between studying and test score.
C) At the mean value of online gaming, there is no relationship between studying and test score.
D) At the mean value of online gaming, there is a significant relationship between studying and test score.

Question 11

Why is it better to use confidence intervals to identify indirect effects rather than the Sobel test?

A) It allows for more sophisticated analysis of degrees of mediation
B) It allows for error to be identified within our analysis
C) The Sobel test is outdated
D) The Sobel test only identifies direct effects

Question 12

What are two of the advantages of using the PROCESS tool instead of the usual regression menu in SPSS?

A) It allows manual computation of predictors and predictor centring
B) It centres predictors and produces simple slopes analysis
C) It produces simple slopes analysis and errors scores
D) It centres predictors and produces complex slopes analysis

Question 13

An HR manager in a factory conducted an analysis of the relationship between duration of production line staff lunch breaks (measured in minutes daily) and staff productivity (measured by increased number of products produced per day). He had found that there was a positive relationship between the predictor and the outcome variable. However when he introduced the variable consumption of sugary snacks (measured by number consumed per lunch break) he found that the strength of the original relationship weakened. How might he now summarise the relationship between lunch break duration and staff productivity

A) It has an indirect effect mediated by sugary snack intake
B) It has a direct effect mediated by sugary snack intake
C) It has no effect at all
D) It has no significant relationship.

Question 14

In the marketing analyst's analysis of what influences levels of online shopping he found that online advertising and social media usage was a significant predictor of a consumer's level of online shopping. What sort of analysis does he need to do to work out the nature of the moderation effect?

A) Complex Slope Analysis
B) Multi-slopes Analysis
C) Simple Slopes Analysis
D) Linear Slopes Analysis

Question 15

What does a significant result in a Sobel test mean?

A) That the predictor does not affect the outcome variable due to the introduction of the mediator variable
B) That the mediator variable significantly effects the outcome variable via the predictor variable
C) That the predictor significantly effects the outcome variable via the mediator variable
D) That the mediator variable does not affect the outcome variable via the predictor variable

Question 16

A marketing analyst was interested in the combined influence of online advertising and social media usage on levels of online shopping. What sort of analysis should he choose?

A) Mediation
B) Moderation
C) Multiple Regression
D) Multi-Level Modelling