Basic Concepts and Assumptions

This chapter begins with an introduction to multivariate procedures, which allow social workers and other human services researchers to analyze multidimensional social problems and interventions in ways that minimize oversimplification. Examples of multivariate statistical procedures to predict and describe relationships include multivariate multiple regression (MMR), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Structural equation modeling (SEM) may be used for data simplification and reduction, description, and prediction. The discussion then turns to the rationale for multivariate analysis followed by a description of the organization and contents of this book.