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Ceilings and Floors

Author

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  • Gary Goertz
  • Tony Hak
  • Jan Dul

Abstract

There are situations where the data or the theory suggest or require, respectively, that one estimate the boundary lines that separate regions of observations from regions of no observations. Of particular interest are ceiling or floor lines. For example, many theories use terms such as veto player, constraint, only if, and so on, which suggest ceilings. Ceiling hypotheses have a nonstandard form claiming the probability of Y Â will be zero for all values of Y Â greater than the ceiling value of Y c for a given value of X . Conversely, ceiling hypotheses make no specific prediction about the value of Y for a given value of X Â except that it will be less than the ceiling value. Floors work by guaranteeing minimum levels. The article gives numerous examples of theories that imply ceiling or floor hypotheses and numerous examples of data that fit such hypotheses. The article proposes quantile regression as a means of estimating the boundaries of the no-data zone as well as criteria for evaluating the importance of the boundary variable. These techniques are illustrated for ceiling and floor hypotheses relating gross domestic product/capita and democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Goertz & Tony Hak & Jan Dul, 2013. "Ceilings and Floors," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 42(1), pages 3-40, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:42:y:2013:i:1:p:3-40
    DOI: 10.1177/0049124112460375
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    8. Legewie, Nicholas, 2018. "Anchored Calibration: From Qualitative Data to Fuzzy Sets," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 18(3).
    9. Dul, J., 2015. "Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA)," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2015-004-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

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