ABSTRACT
The maximum likelihood estimation methods used commonly in multilevel analysis are
asymptotic, which translates to the assumption that the sample size is large. This arouses
questions about the accuracy of the various estimation methods with relatively small
sample sizes. Most research on this problem uses simulation methods, and investigates
the accuracy of the fixed and random parameters with small sample sizes at either the
individual or the group level. Comparatively less research investigates the accuracy of the
standard errors used to test specific model parameters.
