Gender control variable: case unequal group sizes

Questions about the implementation and application of the PLS-SEM method, that are not related to the usage of the SmartPLS software.
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nshevchu
PLS Junior User
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:41 pm
Real name and title: Nata S

Gender control variable: case unequal group sizes

Post by nshevchu »

Hello,

In my analysis, I used gender as a control variable and I got a statistically significant result. The problem is that in my sample male to female ration is about 1:5 which does not reflect the ration of the users of an applications, i.e. respondents of the survey. Considering this, can I still claim that the statistically significant result obtained from the control variable is meaningful?

Thanks all for any advice on this topic.

P.S. among all existing topics, I have not found the one that answers this question. I apologize if I overlooked the same existing topic - a reference to it will be much appreciated.
jmbecker
SmartPLS Developer
Posts: 1282
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:09 am
Real name and title: Dr. Jan-Michael Becker

Re: Gender control variable: case unequal group sizes

Post by jmbecker »

Having a significant control you know that male and female respond differently on your DV. Statistically, there is no problem in having more male or female respondents (i.e., unequal group sizes on the control). Conceptually, however, I would find it problematic that you samples so much more of the one group if you find that they behave differently. To get more precise estimates you may want to sample more of the currently underrepresented group.
Dr. Jan-Michael Becker, BI Norwegian Business School, SmartPLS Developer
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Michael_Becker
GoogleScholar: http://scholar.google.de/citations?user ... AAAJ&hl=de
nshevchu
PLS Junior User
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:41 pm
Real name and title: Nata S

Re: Gender control variable: case unequal group sizes

Post by nshevchu »

Dear Dr. Becker,
Thank you so much for the response!
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