The Ecological Fallacy: Some Fundamental Research Misconceptions Corrected
本文揭示了生态谬误（基于群体数据推断个体特征）在营销和广告研究工具中的三种表现：差距/网格分析、杠杆分析以及滥用联合研究指数，指出这些方法仅在偶然情况下得出正确结论。
<h3>ABSTRACT</h3> The ecological fallacy, the drawing of inferences about individuals based on aggregate level data, was discovered over 50 years ago but is still present in a surprising number of commonly employed marketing and advertising research tools. In this article, we examine three specific manifestations of the ecological fallacy—gap/grid analysis, leverage analysis, and the misuse of indexes from syndicated research. Our analysis will demonstrate that the approaches represent parallel paths to an analysis procedure that results in correct conclusions only by accident.