Skip to content

Regression analysis with small but complete dataset (fully representing reality)?

2 messages · Diana Michl, Patrick (Malone Quantitative)

#
I have a repeated measures design with about 16 cases and 5-6 points of 
measuring. Sometimes, 1-4 full cases or some points of measure are 
missing. (The measures are 20 numerical and categorical data taken from 
questionnaires.)

The clue is: It's a small dataset with holes in it, but the 16 cases are 
all that even exist. So they fully represent reality wherever they're 
complete.

I wanted to run logistic regressions with up to 6 predictors. But can I 
do that? I know about the many problems such small datasets have for 
regression analysis - but do they matter as much if there aren't any 
more cases in reality?
Are descriptive analyses the only ones I can use?

Many thanks
#
Diana,

It depends on the nature of the missing. Are the present values the only
ones that could exist? If so, you have the entire population's data, and
descriptive statistics are in fact preferable to inferential ones. There's
no need to run inferential statistics if you have the population--they are
by definition for inferring population values from a sample.

Pat
On Thu, Dec 24, 2020 at 6:21 AM Diana Michl <dianamichl at aikq.de> wrote: