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Subject PSYCHOLOGY

Paper No and Title Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No and Title Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)

Module Tag PSY_P2_M27

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Learning Outcomes
2. Introduction
3. The concept of ANCOVA
3.1 Defining ANCOVA
3.2 Use of ANCOVA
3.3 Process of ANCOVA
3.4 Choosing Covariates
3.4 Assumptions of ANCOVA
4. ANCOVA and its applications
5. Comparing ANOVA and ANCOVA
6. Using IBM SPSS20 for ANCOVA
7. Summary

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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1. Learning Outcomes
After studying this module, you shall be able to

 Comprehend terms like variation, co-variation, confounding and learn their use in
research investigations.
 Evaluate the difference between ANOVA and ANCOVA.
 Understand the assumptions to be taken care of for ANCOVA.
 Apply ANCOVA further study practically.

2. Introduction
The first time Indian audience saw our own national superhero Shaktimaan in 1997, it was
considered a phenomenon. The belief in a superhero reached to such an extent that children
jumped from the roofs of their homes thinking Shaktimaan would save them. At the same time it
was a new sort of entertainment. As children we might remember glued to television to watch his
stunts. Some of us who had watched it earlier if have a look at it today or those who were born
after the Shaktimaan era would experience it to be funny and poor quality technology usage.
Considering newer present generation movies like Krrish 3 or Avengers, we have no doubt
moved on and the present ones seem more attractive. If one is asked to rate the best of all, it
might not be easy considering the first time experience that one had with respect to that particular
age of ours in which we enjoyed this new phenomenon making entry in India. In order to really
understand which one was the best, thus, one will have to take into consideration the
entertainment and fun attributable to one’s age at that point of time. This will provide a purer
measure of how much variance in the entertainment is attributable to the event itself. ANCOVA
provides for a measure to factor in other variables that may be influencing the outcome variable.

The important point to notice here is that many a times while investigating a problem the
researcher tends to study the independent and dependent variable relationship, ignoring the
underlying dependent covariates that may intervene in the relationship. This intervention of
dependent co-variate contaminates the relationship and produces results which may not be pure
and thus, fraught with errors. It is therefore, important that a statistical procedure be developed
that helps in identifying the variance contributed by the covariate, thus, helping the researcher in
arriving at a much purer understanding of the relationship between the dependent and the
independent variables.

3. The Concept of ANCOVA

The concept of ANCOVA

The quantitative methods of research focus on establishing and analyzing the relationships
between the independent and dependent variables in the data. The data varies in the degree of
complexity with the types of research designs chosen. The experimental and correlational designs
focus on the idea of analyzing one dependent variable at a time. The data with different levels of

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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an independent variable has been analyzed using t- test or

ANOVA, the interaction between different levels of the
independent variables could be checked using MANOVA.

However, this may not be the case in all situations as, many a times several dependent variables
may act in tandem. When such variables are continuous in their impact on the dependent variable
they are referred to as co-variates. The ANCOVA is used to study the differences between the
different levels of an independent variable for the possible effects of the co-variates on the results

Let us take an example, it is hypothesized that mnemonic technique used will have an
effect on the recall. There are many variables like age, gender, training experience,
reasoning ability etc. that may affect the link between the mnemonic technique and recall.
The ANCOVA allows to study the possible effect of these continuous variables on the
results. By studying thrsrs one can get purer results. Which can throw better light on the
relationship between the independent and the dependent variable, so, ANCOVA basically
extends the idea of ANOVA but takes into account the variance contributed by the
covariates that influence the outcome variable. So, when we measure the co-variates and
include them in the analysis it is called ANALYSIS OF CO-VARIANCE or ANCOVA in
short.

There are two main reasons for including co-variates in ANOVA:

 To reduce the within group variance

 To eliminate the confounding variables

3.1 ANCOVA

ANCOVA is a method of applying a statistical technique to produce a valid evaluation of the

outcome of the experiment. For instance, if an investigator is trying to study one independent
variable A and wants to control the influence of an uncontrolled variable called the covariants or
concomitant variables B which are known to correlate with dependent variable, ANCOVA is used
to yield a reliable result. Thus, ANCOVA becomes a procedure for statistical control.

The regression equation for ANOVA can be extended to include one or more continuous
variables that can predict the outcome or dependent variable. These continuous variables are not a
part of the main experimental manipulation but do impact the dependent variable and are referred
to as covariates. When covariates are included in the analysis of variance, it becomes ANCOVA.

For example, the quality of an individual’s dance performance will not only depend on the
amount of practice but also the age, physical flexibility, interest of the individual and so on. If the
variables apart from duration of practice are considered as covariates and are measured, it
becomes possible to control their influence on dependent variable by including them in the
regression model.

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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3.2 Use of ANCOVA

ANCOVA as a statistical technique enables to:

o Reduce within group or error variance by firstly comparing the variability in data that can
be explained by the experiment and variability that cannot be explained by the
experiment. If this unexplained variance (SSR) can be described in terms of other
variables or covariates, error variance gets reduced allowing more accurate
assessment of effect of the independent variable (SSM). Thus, use of 2 or 3
covariates in such studies can be considered, which have relatively low
correlations with each other as each covariate will remove a part of the error
variance from dependent variable.
o ANCOVA helps in eliminating systematic bias, confounds or the unmeasured
variables that vary systematically with experimental manipulation. Systematic
bias implies that groups differ systematically on a key variable that is related to
performance on dependent variable. For instance, if there are treatments involved
in groups, a significant difference on a post test after giving the treatments will be
mixed with initial differences as it would be unclear whether treatments are
making the difference or whether initial differences are simply transferred to
posttest means. For instance, if one is comparing the effect of 4 stress situations
on the blood pressure, the third situation may have been found to be more
significantly stressful than the other 3. At the same time, blood pressure of the
subjects in group 3 under minimal stress is found to be greater than subjects of the
other groups. One now as a researcher needs to find out whether the blood
pressure for group 3 would still be higher if posttest means for all 4 groups were
adjusted in a way to account for initial differences in blood pressure. Later, one
notes that the posttest means are adjusted in a linear manner to what they would
be if all groups started out equally on the covariate i.e. at the grand mean.

The best possible way to eliminate this bias may be random assignment of
subjects and hence, within sampling error, one would be confident that groups
don’t differ systematically on variables. But in many studies, random assignment
may not be possible, so one might partially equate the groups by either matching
on key variables or using ANCOVA to control key variance. ANCOVA reduces
but not eliminates the bias caused by these variables and once identified, the
confounding variable can be measured and entered into the analysis as a
covariate.

3.3 Process of ANCOVA

The process of application of ANCOVA involves removal of the influence of

uncontrolled variable by the method of simple linear regression. The residual sums of

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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squares are used to provide variance estimates which

further are used to make tests of significance. It can be
represented as:

Yi` Adjusting
Yi Compute
(Predictable from degrees of
(Each individual ANOVA on
uncontrolled freedom lost
variable Zi) obtained
score) during
(Yi – Yi`)
estimation of
regression

3.3 Choosing Covariates

One can choose a covariate by keeping the following things in mind:

 A covariate can be variables which are significantly correlating with

dependent variable at least theoretically, and less amongst each other.
 Covariates can be variables shown to correlate on similar types of subjects

3.4 Assumptions of ANCOVA

Application of ANCOVA assumes:

 Independence of covariate and treatment effect: ANOVA partitions the

experimental effect into 2 parts, one representing experimental or treatment
effect and the other being error or the unexplained variance. ANCOVA on the
other hand takes into account the covariate sharing its variance with the bit of
the dependent variable that is currently unexplained or which is completely
independent from the treatment effect. But people often confuse the use of
ANCOVA and apply it to situations where the effect of covariate overlaps
with the experimental effect i.e. the experimental effect is confounded with
the effect of covariate. Thus, here the covariate will reduce the experimental
effect as it would explain some of the variance that is otherwise attributed to
the experiment. Therefore, in the absence of independence of covariate and
treatment effect, the latter gets obscured. Consider the example that obesity
and cardiac problems are closely related such that obese individuals tend to
develop cardiac problems early in life. So if one wants to compare obese
individuals with non obese individuals on some physical task, the chances are
that the obese group would also have cardiac issues like shortness of breath or
poor stamina in some obese individuals than the non obese group believed to
be good in their stamina. By removing cardiac problems as a covariate into the
analysis, the pure effect of obesity on the task may be seen but is something

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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that is not possible because obesity and cardiac

problems share variance. It can be avoided by
randomizing participants to the experimental group or matching experimental
groups on the covariate. It can be represented as explained by Field (2009):

ANOVA SITUATION
Total Variance in task performance

Variance explained by Unexplained Variance

obesity

ANCOVA SITUATION
Total Variance in task performance

Variance explained by Variance explained

obesity by covariate
(cardiac problems)

WRONG APPLICATION OF ANCOVA

SITUATION
Total Variance in task performance

Variance explained Unexplained Variance

Variance explained
by obesity
by covariate

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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 Homogeneity of slopes of regression: when ANCOVA is applied, the

relationship between outcome or dependent variable and covariate is understood.
A regression line is fitted to the data set ignoring the group to which a particular
individual becomes. Thus, it assumes the overall relationship to be true for all
group of participants. This implies that if there is a positive relationship between
the covariate and outcome in one group, a positive relationship is assumed for rest
of the groups as well. But if the relationship between the outcome and covariate
differs across groups then the regression model does not represent all the groups
and is inaccurate. This being the homogeneity of regression slopes should show
the regression lines to be similar to each other.

3. ANCOVA and its applications

ANCOVA as a statistical technique has the following applications:

 In experimental designs, it is used to control factors that cannot be randomized

but can be measured on interval scale.
 In observational designs, it can be used to remove the effects of variables that
alter the relationship of independent and dependent variable.
 It creates a more powerful test in an experimental study
 It reduces bias when one compares intact or self selected groups like males &
females.
 It is used in teaching methods based researches that use intact classrooms.

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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 It is used in adjusting posttest means on the

outcome variable for any initial differences
present on a pretest. For instance, if average IQ’s for classrooms differ by 10
points, adjustment of post test achievement is done.

Applications of ANCOVA:

 Focus of analysis: the purpose of using ANCOVA in quantitative psychological research

is to compare the mean differences among a number of groups, when the dependent
variable has been adjusted for one or more co-variates.
 Variables in ANCOVA: in simple one way ANCOVA there may be just one independent
variable, however, with increased complexity in design the number of independent
variables may be more than one too. The dependent variable in ANCOVA must be
continuously scaled in interval or ratio level of measurement.
 The relationship among the groups/ samples: ANCOVA has number of groups being
compared, and their dependent variable scores are not related (independent).
 Underlying assumptions: the assumptions of normality, homogeneity of variance

4. ANOVA and ANCOVA

It is important for the students of quantitative methods to understand the differences
between ANOVA and ANCOVA as statistical procedures to a better understanding of
error and real variances contributed by the data. Also, the applications of the two
procedures to the research data would enable a higher validity in the research.

ANOVA ANCOVA

Tests effect of
Whether common covariate on
mean shared by 3 or dependent
more data groups or variable…
not…

Not use any Use a covariate

covariate… purposely…

Divides between
Talks about between group variation
group variation in into treatment
general……. effect & covariate
effect

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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5. Numerical application of ANCOVA

Let us compare the effects of two treatments like theory based class or practical based lecture on
achievement in science. As an investigator, she evaluates achievement using a 50 item multiple
choice exam. With a total of 24 students, 12 assigned randomly to each of the treatments and
availability of IQ scores (being a covariate), yielded the following data:

Since the sample is randomly assigned to each treatment conditions, IQ data is not used by the
investigator for the analysis as she doesn’t feel the need because of random sampling. A t-test for
independent samples on achievement is carried out on achievement at the 0.05 level of
significance. The t value is found to be 1.676which according to the t tables is not significant as
the critical value of t is +/- 2.074. But the pooled within correlation of IQ with achievement for
the data is found to be 0.80. this implies that 64% of the variation in achievement test scores is
related to individual differences in IQ.

Here, ANCOVA comes to rescue as it removes that part from the error variance and yields a t
value significant at o.o5 level i.e. t= 2.25.

6. IBM SPSS 20 for ANCOVA

Let us take an example to demonstrate the use of IBM SPSS20 software for the calculation of
ANCOVA:

A researcher wishes to study the effect of substance abuse treatment conditions on the duration of
abstinence when adjustment for the covariate of age is made among the adults. The independent
variable has two substance abuse treatment conditions: standard care and standard care with
contingency management. The sample of 150 adults with problem of substance were randomly

PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)
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assigned to the two treatment conditions.. the research design

chosen is: two- group post-test only randomized design with
co-variate (in this case; age).

To get ANCOVA results the following steps may be followed:

 Click Analyze> click> General Linear Model > click > Univariate> click over LDA
under Dependent Variable, Treatment Condition under Fixed Factors, and Age over to
Covariate.
 Click on the Plots button > click Treatment Condition to Horizontal Axis > click the Add
button > click Continue.
 Click on the Options button > click (overall) and treatment Condition to Display Means
for. Select Compare Main Effects. Select LSD (none).
 Click on the boxes for descriptive statistics, Estimates of effect size, observed power, and
Homogeneity tests > the Significance level should be .01> click on Continue> click OK.
 Save the generated output as ANCOVA with age results.

7. Summary
 The ANCOVA is used to study the differences between the different levels of an
independent variable for the possible effects of the co-variates on the results. When
covariates get included in ANOVA, it becomes ANCOVA.
 ANCOVA is a statistical control procedure that yields a purer and accurate evaluation of
the result of an experiment as it reduces biases or errors attributable to factors covarying
with the dependent variable.

 ANCOVA as a statistical technique enables to: Reduce within group or error variance by
firstly comparing the variability in data that can be explained by the experiment and
variability. ANCOVA helps in eliminating systematic bias, confounds or the
unmeasured variables that vary systematically with experimental manipulation
 The regression equation for ANOVA can be extended to include one or more continuous
variables that can predict the outcome or dependent variable
 Its applicability ranges from experimental to observational designs producing more
powerful statistical results.

 Underlying assumptions: the assumptions of normality, homogeneity of variance etc. are

applicable to the data while ancova is being applied
 The IBM SPSS 20 software for calculation of ANCOVA from the data is also explained
in the text.

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PSYCHOLOGY Paper No. 2 Quantitative Methods

Module No. 27- Analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA)