Unequal category ranges distort published research results

Evidence

I realize that the classification problems go back to the original studies. Some authors would call weekly attendance “moderate,” and others “high.” The reviewer is stuck with their published categories. But the problem still remains. Another thing bothers me about these ranges: they are highly unequal. Usually when you break up a continuum of responses into a few categories, you follow meaningful breaks in the criterion or else try to get the sample evenly distributed in the categories. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 4178

Categorization

• DEFINE: Showcases the methodological critique of how studies slice continuous variables into categories—a research-hygiene point.
• XREF: connects to: the MOC “The Wound of the Label: When Knowing Someone Becomes a Way of Erasing Them”