Tis Not, Tis Not – Tis So, Tis So: Rebuttal of Rebuttal by Iacobucci, Posavac, Kardes, Schneider, and Popovich (2015) on the Appropriateness of Median Splits

6 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2015 Last revised: 28 Sep 2015

See all articles by John G. Lynch

John G. Lynch

University of Colorado-Boulder, Leeds School of Business - Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making

Gary McClelland

University of Colorado at Boulder - Department of Psychology

Julie R. Irwin

University of Texas - McCombs School of Business

Stephen A. Spiller

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management

Gavan J. Fitzsimons

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business

Date Written: September 25, 2015

Abstract

Iacobucci, Posovac, Kardes, Schneider, and Popavich (2015a) published a defense of median splits. We (McClelland, Lynch, Irwin, Spiller, and Fitzsimons 2015) and Rucker, McShane, and Preacher (2015) published criticism of each of the key conclusions from Iacobucci et al. Iacobucci et al. (2015b) then prepared a rebuttal. Iacobucci et al. believe that we have misunderstood their points, and we believe that they have misunderstood ours. Iacobucci et al. were given the last word in the pages of Journal of Consumer Psychology. We will use this SSRN outlet to say why the claims in their rejoinder are either incorrect or miss the point of our criticisms. First when only significant results are published, the fraction of published findings that are type 1 errors are a direct function of power divided by type 1 error rate. Second, Iacobucci et al. stress that their simulations were intended to apply to the case of zero multicollinearity; but in the real world with random assignment of subjects to conditions, the correlation between the median split variable and the treatment dummy can be substantial, particularly with small sample sizes. Third, they are incorrect to assert that in a moderated regression model with predictors X, Z, and X*Z it is not possible to get an effect of X or X*Z that is significant using median splits but not significant using continuous X. Finally, they ignore our point that the median split will bias the parameter estimate of the interaction in cases where it is in fact non-zero. We stand by every point in our original critique.

Keywords: median splits, false positive consumer psychology, power

JEL Classification: C50, C51

Suggested Citation

Lynch, John G. and McClelland, Gary and Irwin, Julie R. and Spiller, Stephen A. and Fitzsimons, Gavan J., Tis Not, Tis Not – Tis So, Tis So: Rebuttal of Rebuttal by Iacobucci, Posavac, Kardes, Schneider, and Popovich (2015) on the Appropriateness of Median Splits (September 25, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2665437 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2665437

John G. Lynch (Contact Author)

University of Colorado-Boulder, Leeds School of Business - Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making ( email )

Leeds School of Business
Boulder, CO 80309-0419
United States
919-971-5201 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.colorado.edu/business/john-g-lynch-jr

Gary McClelland

University of Colorado at Boulder - Department of Psychology ( email )

Boulder, 80309
United States

Julie R. Irwin

University of Texas - McCombs School of Business ( email )

Business,Government and Society Department
Austin, TX 78712
United States

Stephen A. Spiller

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management ( email )

110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States

Gavan J. Fitzsimons

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
149
Abstract Views
1,431
Rank
353,212
PlumX Metrics