Ordinal logistic regression

Presenter(s): Dr Heini Väisänen

This three-part series gives a short introduction to ordinal logistic regression. The method can be used in situations, where the outcome (dependent) variable has at least three categories that are ordered. The series introduces the principles of the method, uses empirical examples to explain how the method is used and includes a computer workshop exercise task, which shows how to put this knowledge into practice using Stata. It is recommended that all three videos should be viewed before attempting the computer workshop task.

Part 1: Introduction to ordinal logistic regression

This video introduced the method and its cumulative nature. It shows a simple example with one explanatory variable to illustrate how the method works and how the results can be interpreted using either cumulative odds or predicted probabilities.

Part 2: Multivariate ordinal logistic regression

This video discusses ordinal logistic regression models with more than one explanatory variable. It also introduces some principles of model selection, including the use of Wald-tests and likelihood ratio tests.

Part 3: The proportional odds assumption

The last video of the series discusses what we mean by the proportional odds assumption when we conduct ordinal regression models. It illustrates the assumption by showing an example comparing results from a multinomial and an ordinal model.

Supporting materials

Videos of related topics and presenters

About the author

A lecturer in Social Statistics and Demography in the University of Southampton (part time) and a researcher at the French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) (full time). A social demographer interested in population, sexual and reproductive health in different parts of the world. I joined the Department of Social Statistics and Demography as a lecturer in 2015 and in 2021 switched to a part-time role after taking up a position at INED in Aubervilliers, France. I conducted my PhD studies in Demography at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The title of my thesis was “A Life Course Perspective to Abortions in Finland”. I hold an MSc in Social Research Methods from LSE (2012) and an MSocSci in Sociology from University of Helsinki (2010).

Primary author profile page

• Published on: 14 December 2020
• Event hosted by: University of Southampton
• Keywords: Qualitative Data Handling and Data Analysis | Regression Methods | Ordinal regression |
• To cite this resource:

  Dr Heini Väisänen. (2020). Ordinal logistic regression. National Centre for Research Methods online learning resource. Available at https://www.ncrm.ac.uk/resources/online/all/?id=20762 [accessed: 25 April 2024]