Interpreting and understanding logits, probits, and other non-linear probability models

Journal article

Methods textbooks in sociology and other social sciences routinely recommend the use of the logit or probit model when an outcome variable is binary, an ordered logit or ordered probit when it is ordinal, and a multinomial logit when it has more than two categories. But these methodological guidelines take little or no account of a body of work that, over the past 30 years, has pointed to problematic aspects of these non-linear probability models and, particularly, to difficulties in interpreting their parameters. In this chapter, we draw on that literature to explain the problems, show how they manifest themselves in research, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives that have been suggested, and conclude by pointing to lines of further analysis.

Authors: Breen, R; Karlson, K; Holm, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Annual Reviews
• Journal: Annual Review of Sociology
• Volume: 44
• Pages: 39-54
• Publication date: 2018-05-11
• Acceptance date: 2018-01-15
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev-soc-073117-041429
• EISSN: 1545-2115
• ISSN: 0360-0572