SURVEYHLM: Artikel veröffentlicht

28. Juli 2025

Foto: Journal of Statistical Software

SURVEYHLM: A SAS Macro for Multilevel Analysis with Large-Scale Educational Assessment Data

Daniel Kasper, Katrin Schulz-Heidorf, Knut Schwippert

Abstract
Special techniques must be considered during analysis of large-scale educational assessment (LSA) data. In this regard, many software packages are available to support researchers conducting secondary analyses. However, the software packages available for multilevel analyses are somewhat limited and usually contain only a few of the required techniques. In this article, we review the technical details of LSA studies and describe our comparison of software for multilevel analyses by questioning the extent to which these packages take these technical details into account. In accordance with our findings from this comparison, we developed a SAS macro for multilevel analyses of LSA data that meets all technical requirements. The macro SURVEYHLM fits multilevel models with LSA datasets. SURVEYHLM can handle up to three levels. It can fit different correlation structures for the random components and use plausible values as response variables, and the responses do not necessarily need to be normally distributed. Weights can be specified on levels 1, 2 and 3. Scaling of the level-specific weights is possible, and standard errors can be based on a sandwich estimator or calculated with either the jackknife replication technique or through user-supplied replication weights. Examples of applications are given.

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