Within-and-Between Analysis

Within-and-Between Analysis (WABA) is a methodology for determining the level of analysis at which a relationship between variables actually operates, developed by Fred Dansereau, Joseph Alutto, and Francis Yammarino in their 1984 book on the varient approach to theory testing. The central question it answers is whether an observed correlation reflects a group-level phenomenon (differences between work units), an individual-level phenomenon (differences among individuals within units), both, or neither. WABA decomposes the variance of each variable, and the covariance between variables, into between-entity and within-entity components, then applies statistical and practical tests to draw a levels inference. Yammarino and Markham's 1992 application showed how WABA can overturn casual assumptions, demonstrating that phenomena presumed to be group-based may in fact be individual-based. Klein, Dansereau, and Hall's 1994 review situated WABA within a broader argument that levels of analysis must be specified in theory, measurement, and analysis alike. WABA forces researchers to test, rather than assume, the level at which their constructs live.