To perform a hierarchical multiple regression, I first entered the demographics variables in the first IV box, and clicked the “next” button. Then I put the controlling variables in the box, and clicked the next button and in third block I entered the variables I am interested in. Now the question is what method I should select, Enter or Stepwise?
Naeem,
I don't use SPSS to know exactly what "Enter" does, but I can still advocate against "Stepwise."
I suspect "Enter" runs the set of analyses you've designed. Automated variable selection is almost never a good idea, and certainly not when you have conceptual reason to enter variables in a given way.
Pat
Use ENTER if you want to control which variables enter at each step. STEPWISE is a completely algorithmic method that requires no input from the analyst (apart from what criterion to use for model fit, etc).
As Pat notes, automated selection methods are generally a bad idea. E.g.,
http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/statistics/stepwise-regression-problems/
Cheers,
Bruce
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