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Effectiveness Of Using Ega On Different Regions Of A Distribution And Recognition Of The Distribution

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While rarely discussed, Preacher et al., (2005) mentions one rationale for using EGA is that by removing influences such as unreliability in the middle of the distribution the statistical power will be increased. It is thought that selecting cases from the extremes of the distribution of x may increase the reliability of a scale. What actually has been seen is that EGA usually results in the omission of the most reliable scores, not the least. Using item response theory (IRT) may help make EGA a viable option to increase reliability. Applying IRT permits the appropriate assessment of reliability in different regions of a distribution and recognition of the effects of EGA on relevant variances. There are other times when EGA should not be used. If we are using a non-linear relationship between variables, or a non-linear relationship cannot be ruled out, than EGA should not be used. Another method to reduce the odds of model misspecification is to avoid restricting attention to extreme group’s data, and rather fit differently, possibly more complex models to full-range data. If you are dichotomizing scores, EGA should not be used as it may reduce information even more, and you will lose individual differences along with the possibility to investigate nonlinear relationships. This may be one of the most important factors to consider when using EGA. If used in conjunction with dichotomy, not only could we lose important date, but we may lose statistical power as well. There

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