Silver Bullet or Voodoo Statistics?
为非技术背景的群体与组织研究者介绍偏最小二乘法（PLS）的优势、局限及应用，帮助判断该方法是否适用于小样本或理论初探的研究场景。
Much of group and organization research is constrained by either limited sample sizes and/or nascent theoretical development. Wold developed the partial least squares (PLS) data analytical technique to help overcome these and other challenges facing researchers. PLS represents a powerful and effective means to test multivariate structural models with latent variables. Although PLS is used by researchers and practitioners in many scientific disciplines, some misunderstanding remains among group and organization researchers regarding the legitimacy and usefulness of PLS. To help allay these concerns, this article provides a nontechnical primer on PLS and its advantages, limitations, and application to group and organization research using a data set collected in an experiment on the effects of leadership styles and communication format on the group potency of computer-mediated work groups.