ABSTRACT
So, with all of these different units, imagine trying to compare their various slopes in their original forms. Let’s say the slope for SEX was 0.73 and the slope for EDUCATION was 0.25. At first glance, it might seem that sex has a larger effect, because it has the larger slope. But think about this for a minute. True, the variable SEX, if it changes from 0 to 1, can change the dependent variable by 0.73. But that is all it can do. SEX cannot go onward to 2, 3, or 4. Education, in contrast, can go from 0 to 1 to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. EDUCATION has a larger range than does SEX, and that gives it a greater chance to affect the dependent variable. In fact, in this situation the change it causes in the dependent variable could be anywhere from 0 (with 0 years of education) to 5.0 (with 20 years of education; 20 × 0.25 = 5.0).
