RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Ecological Fallacy: Some Fundamental Research Misconceptions Corrected
JF Journal of Advertising Research
JO J Advert Res
FD WARC
SP 370
OP 380
DO 10.2501/JAR-43-4-370-380
VO 43
IS 4
A1 Kevin J. Clancy
A1 Paul D. Berger
A1 Thomas L. Magliozzi
YR 2003
UL http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/43/4/370.abstract
AB The ecological fallacy, the drawing of inferences about individuals based on aggregate level data, was discovered over 50 years ago but is still present in a surprising number of commonly employed marketing and advertising research tools. In this article, we examine three specific manifestations of the ecological fallacy—gap/grid analysis, leverage analysis, and the misuse of indexes from syndicated research. Our analysis will demonstrate that the approaches represent parallel paths to an analysis procedure that results in correct conclusions only by accident.