In approaching this revision, we have tried to embrace both academic and applied researchers with a presentation strongly grounded in statistical techniques, but focusing on design, estimation, and interpretation. We continually strive to reduce our reliance on statistical notation and terminology and instead to identify the fundamental concepts which affect our use of these techniques and then express them in simple terms. Our commitment remains to provide a firm understanding of the statistical and managerial principles underlying multivariate analysis so as to develop a “comfort zone” not only for the statistical but also the practical issues involved.

• The most obvious change in the sixth edition is the new database—HBAT. The emphasis on improved measurement, particularly multi-item constructs, led to its development. After substantial testing we believe it provides an expanded teaching tool with various techniques that are comparable to the HATCO database, which will still be available on the book’s Web site.

• A second major addition is “Rules of Thumb” for the application and interpretation of the various techniques. The rules of thumb are highlighted throughout the chapters to facilitate their use. We are confident these guidelines will facilitate your utilization of the techniques.

• A third major change to the text is a substantial expansion in coverage of structural equations modeling. We now have three chapters on this increasingly important technique. Chapter 10 provides an overview of structural equation modeling, Chapter 11 focuses on confirmatory factor analysis, and Chapter 12 covers issues in estimating structural models. These three chapters provide a comprehensive introduction to this technique.

• Finally, there is an expanded set of supplementary materials for instructors.  PowerPoint slides are available for each chapter, along with an updated Instructor's Manual.  All of these materials and more are available in the "Adopter's Section" of this website.

Each chapter has been revised to incorporate advances in technology, and several chapters have undergone more extensive change.

• Chapter 5, “Multiple Discriminant Analysis and Logistic Regression,” provides complete coverage of analysis of categorical dependent variables, including both discriminant analysis and logistic regression. Particular emphasis was placed on an expanded discussion of logistic regression which includes an illustrative example using the HBAT database.

• Chapter 7, “Conjoint Analysis,” contains a revised and updated examination of "cutting edge" issues relating to both research design and model estimation. This technique is rapidly evolving as a critical tool in today's academic and practitioner research efforts and our focus is on both practical and conceptual issues that impact use of this technique.

• Finally, Chapter 10, “Structural Equation Modeling,” has been updated and expanded to three chapters in order to reflect the many changes in the field in the past several years. Each chapter also contains a number of expanded topics and example analyses such as testing higher-order factor models, group models, and moderating and mediating variables.

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Multivariate Data Analysis
Hair, Black, Babin and Anderson
www.mvstats.com