How do you determine which variable is the most important?
Determining which variable is more/most important is a matter of (a) interpretation, and (b) statistical analysis. There are multiple variable types; however, most research focuses on the Independent (predictor) and Dependent (outcome) Variable. Therefore, for this answer I’ll assume that you are asking about the IV and not the DV as the IV “predicts” the DV and in a multi-IV scenario, this is often the key question, e.g., “which IV is a better predictor of the DV?” To answer this, paired IV-DVs can be independently tested, then assess which produced the highest R-squared result; however, for my dissertation, I put them all together into the same multiple regression formula, then made the assessment of the most important IV, given the presence of all variables simultaneously. The regression output table in SPSS provides the results for this determination.
Disclaimer: I am not a statistician; therefore, confirm response reliability prior to using in your own research.
For more information on this topic, see:
Lawrence Ness's answer to Is the outcome variable the same as a dependent variable?
Lawrence Ness's answer to Why are variables in quantitative research important?
Lawrence Ness's answer to What are the two types of quantitative variables?
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