Use Of Hierarchical Linear Modeling Research Articles

Cohesiveness and organizational citizenship behavior: A multilevel analysis using work groups and individuals

Using a theory-based multilevel framework, we examined the potential relationships of two organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) dimensions with individual- and group-level measures. The individual-level measures used were employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment; the group-level measure used was work group cohesiveness. The sample for the study was drawn from eight service sector organizations. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses revealed that employees in more cohesive work groups displayed greater amounts of courtesy than would have been predicted based only on their job satisfaction or organizational commitment. Further, the relationship between employee job satisfaction and the amount of courtesy displayed was stronger in the more cohesive groups. Such results were not obtained when conscientiousness was the focal OCB. Implications of our results, as well as use of HLM in multilevel investigations, are discussed.

Integrating Single-Case and Group-Comparison Designs for Evaluation Research

This article describes and assesses the integration of single-case design and group comparison methods to address limitations inherent in each methodology. First, the use of Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) for analyzing aggregated single-case design data is described. Next, two examples of research that combines single-case and group-comparison methods are presented, with reanalyses of data from these studies conducted using HLM procedures. One reanalysis produces results contradicting those obtained by the original researchers. The advantages and disadvantages of using such integrated approaches are then discussed.

Analysis of the development of the working alliance using hierarchical linear modeling.

The relation between the working alliance and therapeutic outcome was examined in 21 therapist-client dyads. This relation was analyzed in terms of the level of alliance at the third counseling session, midpoint of treatment, and last session with linear and curvilinear models of the temporal development of the working alliance. Analyses were conducted with hierarchical linear modeling. Results revealed a significant association between the linear growth function of therapist ratings of the working alliance and therapeutic outcome. The use of hierarchical linear modeling in counseling psychology research and the need for conceptualizing the working alliance as a temporally variant, as opposed to a static, process are discussed.

Toward a More Appropriate Conceptualization of Research on School Effects: A Three-Level Hierarchical Linear Model

Two aspects of educational research--that children's learning is typically the object of inquiry and that this learning usually occurs in organizational settings of classrooms and schools--locate educational research at the nexus of two of the most troublesome and persistent methodological problems in the social sciences: the measurement of change and the "unit-of-analysis" problems. Over the past several years, a satisfactory solution to these problems has been developed through the use of hierarchical linear models. This article summarizes these developments and shows how these techniques have already been used to illuminate important substantive questions about the effects of school organization and children's language development. In the final section of the article, the authors introduce a three-level hierarchical model that they argue should constitute the basic paradigm for future quantitative research on student learning.