I wonder why some gender-related studies compared the mean difference, but others used moderation analysis? Does moderation analysis really provide more accurate findings? How moderation analysis provides more accurate findings than mean difference? What is the pro and con of these two analyses by comparison?
I think you did not understand moderation correctly. With nominal predictors, moderation reduces to comparison of mean differences. But moderation may be necessary if you want to test if the effect (difference(s)) of one variable is different at different levels of the other variable(s). Therefore, moderation and mean differences do not contradict each other.
Analysis of mean differences and moderator analysis are not the same thing. For example, in a 2 X 2 design with a disordinal interaction, the overall mean difference between two groups may be zero because the sign of the mean difference can be opposite across the levels of the second factor. Therefore, it is important to study both main effects and interactions (moderation) in designs with multiple independent variables.
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