03/02/2020
Multivariate Analysis
The basic definition of multivariate analysis is a statistical method that measures relationships between two or more response variables. Multivariate techniques attempt to model reality where each situation, product or decision involves more than a single factor. For example, the decision to purchase a car may take into consideration price, safety features, color and functionality. Modern society has collected masses of data in every field, but the ability to use that data to obtain a clear picture of what is going on and make intelligent decisions is still a challenge.
Limitations of Multivariate Analysis
Multivariate techniques are complex and involve high level mathematics that require a statistical program to analyze the data. These statistical programs can be expensive for an individual to obtain. One of the biggest limitations of multivariate analysis is that statistical modeling outputs are not always easy for students to interpret. For multivariate techniques to give meaningful results, they need a large sample of data; otherwise, the results are meaningless due to high standard errors. Standard errors determine how confident you can be in the results, and you can be more confident in the results from a large sample than a small one. Running statistical programs is fairly straightforward but does require statistical training to make sense of the data.