January 2025 Online Short Course

Introduction to Multilevel Analysis

Introduction to Multilevel Analysis

Dr. Paul Bliese

January 6th – 9th 2025

Lecture Abstract

The CARMA Introduction to Multilevel Analysis short course provides both (1) the theoretical foundation, and (2) the resources and skills necessary to conduct basic multilevel analyses. Emphasis will be placed on techniques for traditional, hierarchically nested data (e.g., children in classrooms; employees in teams). The first part of the course introduces issues related to multilevel theory (e.g., multilevel constructs; principles of multilevel theory building; cross-level inferences and cross-level biases). The second part of the course discusses issues related to multilevel measurement (e.g., aggregation; aggregation bias; composition and compilation models of emergence; estimating within-group agreement). The last part of the course focuses on the specification of basic 2-level models (e.g., soldiers nested in platoons; employees nested within work teams) analyzed via multilevel regression (i.e., random coefficient regression; hierarchical linear model; mixed effects model). All analyses will be undertaking using R and RStudio. The course is best suited for faculty and graduate students who are familiar with traditional (i.e., single-level) multiple regression analysis, but have little (if any) expertise related to conducting multilevel analyses.

Meet the Presenter

Paul D. Bliese is the Department Chair and Jeff B. Bates Chaired Professor in the Management Department at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He received a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. After graduate school, he worked for 22 years at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and retired as a Colonel. Throughout his career, Dr. Bliese has led efforts to use statistical methods to answer complex organizational problems and advance theory and practice. He developed and maintains the multilevel package for R, and has published in a variety of journals to include the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Management, and Organizational Research Methods. He served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Psychology from 2010 to 2017 and as the Editor in Chief for Organizational Research Methods from 2017 to 2021. In 2024 he began a new role as the first Deputy Editor for Research Methods for the Academy of Management Journal.