I have a binary questionnaire for dependent variable and Likert scale questionnaires for independent variables. I want to analyze through linear regression model. should be both a binary variable or Likert scale? which is suitable for me ?
Since the dependent variable is binary, the appropriate method is binary logistic regression, rather than linear regression. Linear regression assumes that the dependent variable is continuous and normally distributed, whereas a binary variable does not meet these assumptions, leading to biased results. In contrast, logistic regression models the probability values of the dependent variable using the logit transformation, ensuring that the predicted values remain within the 0 to 1 range. Although Likert-scale independent variables are ordinal, they are often treated as interval scales in regression analysis, but they can also be categorized using dummy coding or analyzed with ordinal logistic regression if the outcome variable has multiple categories. Therefore, to properly analyze the data, binary logistic regression is the recommended approach.
In the questionnaire, intention to migrate is the main variable examined. It can be:
Binary variable (yes/no, i.e. whether or not you want to go abroad) → Logistic regression
Ranked scale (i.e. how likely is it to go abroad) → Ordinal regression
Continuous variable (e.g. intensity of intention to migrate on a 1-10 scale) → Linear regression
OR:
Multinomial regression:
If your dependent variable consists of several categories, for example, "Which country would you choose as a migration destination?" (Japan, Korea, Arab countries, etc.), then multinomial logit regression is appropriate because it models several categories of decisions at once.