Using Planned Comparisons in Management Research: A Case for the Bonferroni Procedure

Abstract

This article describes the Bonferroni multiple-comparison procedure, and makes a case for researchers’ more frequent and appropriate use of it. The procedure is discussed as a test that facilitates investigation of precise and powerful a priori multiple comparisons. Characteristics of the Bonferroni procedure are described in relation to the more familiar Scheffe post hoc multiple-comparison method, and a step-by-step guide for comparing and choosing between the two is provided. The Bonferroni procedure is discussed in detail in the context of one-factor analysis-of-variance designs. Application of the technique is then considered in the context of factorial designs, analyses of covariance, univariate repeated-measures analyses, multivariate analyses of variance, and recent sequential hypothesis-testing extensions. To aid the presentation, an example from the field of management is included.