IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/osfxxx/t6ndu.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Time-Invariant Variables’ Time-Varying Effects: Misinterpretations of the Fixed-Effects Model in Sociological Research

Author

Listed:
  • Ren, Chunhui
  • Allison, Paul

Abstract

A popular statistical approach in sociological research, the fixed-effects regression model is known for its ability to produce unbiased coefficients by adjusting for unobserved time-invariant individual heterogeneity. This ability, however, is contingent on an often-overlooked assumption that time-invariant variables must not have time-varying effects, which, otherwise, would interfere in the process of coefficient estimation, leading to misinterpretations of the findings. Demonstrating with case studies, we intend to explain and clarify two types of such misinterpretations: (1) time-invariant variables’ time-varying effects, when measured in the model, are mistaken as time-invariant variables’ unbiased coefficient estimates; (2) time-invariant variables’ time-varying effects, when unmeasured in the model, confound coefficient estimates for time-varying variables.

Suggested Citation

  • Ren, Chunhui & Allison, Paul, 2024. "Time-Invariant Variables’ Time-Varying Effects: Misinterpretations of the Fixed-Effects Model in Sociological Research," OSF Preprints t6ndu, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:t6ndu
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/t6ndu
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/66ea6b1375e14b34c64bffab/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/t6ndu?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:t6ndu. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://osf.io/preprints/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.