Independent factorial
University of Amsterdam
2025-10-08
In this lecture we aim to:
Reading: Chapter 13
Two or more independent variables with two or more categories. One dependent variable.
The independent factorial ANOVA analyses the variance of multiple independent variables (Factors) with two or more categories.
Effects and interactions:
| Variance | Sum of squares | df | Mean squares | F-ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | \(\text{SS}_{\text{model}} = \sum{n_k(\bar{X}_k-\bar{X})^2}\) | \(k_{model}-1\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{model}}}{\text{df}_{\text{model}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{model}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
| \(\hspace{2ex}A\) | \(\text{SS}_{\text{A}} = \sum{n_k(\bar{X}_k-\bar{X})^2}\) | \(k_A-1\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{A}}}{\text{df}_{\text{A}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{A}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
| \(\hspace{2ex}B\) | \(\text{SS}_{\text{B}} = \sum{n_k(\bar{X}_k-\bar{X})^2}\) | \(k_B-1\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{B}}}{\text{df}_{\text{B}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{B}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
| \(\hspace{2ex}AB\) | \(\text{SS}_{A \times B} = \text{SS}_{\text{model}} - \text{SS}_{\text{A}} - \text{SS}_{\text{B}}\) | \(df_A \times df_B\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{AB}}}{\text{df}_{\text{AB}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{AB}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
| Error | \(\text{SS}_{\text{error}} = \sum{s_k^2(n_k-1)}\) | \(N-k_{model}\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{error}}}{\text{df}_{\text{error}}}\) | |
| Total | \(\text{SS}_{\text{total}} = \text{SS}_{\text{model}} + \text{SS}_{\text{error}}\) | \(N-1\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{total}}}{\text{df}_{\text{total}}}\) |
In this example we will look at the amount of accidents in a car driving simulator while subjects where given varying doses of speed and alcohol.
| Variance | Sum of squares | df | Mean squares | F-ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | \(\text{SS}_{\text{model}} = \sum{n_k(\bar{X}_k-\bar{X})^2}\) | \(k_{model}-1\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{model}}}{\text{df}_{\text{model}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{model}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
Predicts group means for each cell of the design:
speed alcohol accidents n
1 none (S) none (A) 2.1060 20
2 some (S) none (A) 2.9445 20
3 much (S) none (A) 3.8880 20
4 none (S) some (A) 3.4435 20
5 some (S) some (A) 4.7625 20
6 much (S) some (A) 5.5790 20
7 none (S) much (A) 5.2970 20
8 some (S) much (A) 6.5125 20
9 much (S) much (A) 7.5720 20
| Variance | Sum of squares | df | Mean squares | F-ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Error | \(\text{SS}_{\text{error}} = \sum{s_k^2(n_k-1)}\) | \(N-k\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{error}}}{\text{df}_{\text{error}}}\) |
| Variance | Sum of squares | df | Mean squares | F-ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| \(\hspace{2ex}A\) | \(\text{SS}_{\text{A}} = \sum{n_k(\bar{X}_k-\bar{X})^2}\) | \(k_A-1\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{A}}}{\text{df}_{\text{A}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{A}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
none (S) some (S) much (S)
3.615500 4.739833 5.679667
| Variance | Sum of squares | df | Mean squares | F-ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| \(\hspace{2ex}B\) | \(\text{SS}_{\text{B}} = \sum{n_k(\bar{X}_k-\bar{X})^2}\) | \(k_B-1\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{B}}}{\text{df}_{\text{B}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{B}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
none (A) some (A) much (A)
2.9795 4.5950 6.4605
| Variance | Sum of squares | df | Mean squares | F-ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| \(\hspace{2ex}AB\) | \(\text{SS}_{A \times B} = \text{SS}_{\text{model}} - \text{SS}_{\text{A}} - \text{SS}_{\text{B}}\) | \(df_A \times df_B\) | \(\frac{\text{SS}_{\text{AB}}}{\text{df}_{\text{AB}}}\) | \(\frac{\text{MS}_{\text{AB}}}{\text{MS}_{\text{error}}}\) |
For every \(F\)-statistic, we use the \(MS_{error}\) of the full model:
\[\begin{aligned} F_{Speed} &= \frac{{MS}_{Speed}}{{MS}_{error}} \\ F_{Alcohol} &= \frac{{MS}_{Alcohol}}{{MS}_{error}} \\ F_{Alcohol \times Speed} &= \frac{{MS}_{Alcohol \times Speed}}{{MS}_{error}} \\ \end{aligned}\]
\[F_{Alcohol \times Speed}\]
In reality, we do not know exactly how the shared variance is distributed across these three sources (IV1, IV2, shared)
Planned comparisons
Unplanned comparisons
Exam note: know where the options are, exam question will inform you which correction to use
General effect size measure: Partial omega squared \(\omega_p^2\)
How to interpret?
| \(\omega^2\) and \(\omega_p^2\) | Magnitude of Effect | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00–0.009 | Very small | Trivial practical importance |
| 0.01–0.05 | Small | Small but meaningful variance explained |
| 0.06–0.13 | Medium | Moderate variance explained |
| ≥ 0.14 | Large | Substantial variance explained |
Effect sizes of contrasts or post-hoc comparisons: Cohen’s \(d\)
How to interpret?
| Cohen’s d | Magnitude of Effect | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00–0.19 | Very small | Likely negligible in most contexts |
| 0.20–0.49 | Small | Noticeable but modest difference |
| 0.50–0.79 | Medium | Moderate, practically meaningful difference |
| ≥ 0.80 | Large | Substantial, easily noticeable difference |
With multiple predictor variables:

Scientific & Statistical Reasoning