Multilevel Linear Modeling/Hierarchical Linear Modeling

This chapter introduces multilevel linear modeling, which is often called Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). In many applications in education and the behavioral sciences, you need to deal with nested data. Nested means that there are sets of individuals who are found in particular groups or settings (such as schools) so that the individuals in each group/setting are not independent of one another (individuals nested in groups/settings). In addition to the effects of a focal independent variable, such as a manipulation, you may need to determine whether preexisting characteristics of the classrooms or schools impact the outcome. Multilevel linear modeling enables you to do this. This chapter helps the reader conduct several different types of multilevel analyses using SPSS and understand assumptions and how to interpret results.