The Essence of Multivariate Thinking

"Harlow breaks down concepts in simple terms and draws insightful comparisons across different statistical techniques. The text is an excellent resource for all who conduct statistical analyses, from undergraduates to professionals, and everywhere in between."

A. Nayena Blankson, Full Professor of Psychology, Spelman College, USA


"Once again, Harlow writes with authority and great clarity. There’s discussion of estimation, replication, and reproducibility, and all through there’s R code and guidance. This shrewdly revised new edition is a wonderfully future-oriented guide to the multivariate world."

Geoff Cumming, Professor Emeritus, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia


"The Essence of Multivariate Thinking provides a gentle introduction to an expansive toolkit of methods with a through line focused on aptly applying them to research questions. Dr. Harlow seamlessly ties together several modeling frameworks (e.g., multiple regression, MANOVA, discriminant function analysis, logistic regression, SEM, and latent growth modeling) by emphasizing commonalities in their underlying assumptions, statistical tests, and effect size interpretations. All this was done with a clear and accessible writing style accompanied by a unifying data example using R, SAS, and SPSS."

Jolynn Pek, Associate Professor of Quantitative Psychology, Ohio State University, USA


"In this third edition of her landmark text on multivariate methods, readers are furnished with ways to think about a variety of multivariate techniques from start to finish: preliminary considerations, testing assumptions, conducting analyses, and writing up and interpreting the results. They will learn how the various multivariate methods are related, and when each should be used. Readers can pattern their own analyses after those used as examples in the book. Her example analyses are easy to follow and emulate.

Every chapter ends by summarizing a topic around a set of core themes to help researchers understand and select appropriate multivariate methods. Professor Harlow is known for her didactic style and ability to communicate complex topics in clear, approachable language. In this third edition she adds new material on multi-sample SEM and latent growth curve models. The provision of R code for all analyses is a welcome addition. Readers will emerge knowing about a variety of multivariate methods—how they are related and distinct, when to use them, how to conduct them, and how to communicate the results to readers. Harlow has a knack for explaining complicated methods in clear, approachable language. In this revised third edition of her landmark text, she provides readers with all the tools they need to become expert users and consumers of multivariate techniques."

Kristopher J. Preacher, Lois Autrey Betts Chair in Education & Human Development, Vanderbilt University, USA


"Lisa Harlow's third edition of The Essence of Multivariate Thinking is the perfect textbook for introductory graduate statistics or a multivariate statistics course. Each chapter provides readers with the foundational knowledge and relevant software code to start implementing the analyses in their own work right away. Harlow's accessible chapters strike the right balance of unique information and related themes."

Alyssa Counsell, Assistant Professor in Quantitative Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Ontario, Canada