While linear models remain the backbone of human resource development (HRD) as well as broader social science research, they are limited by their inability to detect curvilinearity or changes in direction and, therefore, may not accurately represent the nature of relationships between variables. This paper advocates the utility of the Andrews' (1993) threshold effect technique in the HRD, work, organization, and employment study literatures and does so using the gender wage gap as an illustration. The analysis compares traditional linear regression, a curvilinear quadratic model, and the threshold effect technique using publicly available wage data. This article demonstrates how the threshold method permits the data to organically determine the location of a critical break point, should one exist, and how it addresses the problem of overlooked relationships due to traditional linear assumptions. An overview of the technique and related coding is provided for researchers interested in broadening their analytical arsenal to enhance the study of the gender wage gap as well as other human‐resource‐related phenomena.

中文翻译：

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提倡使用阈值效应估计：使用性别工资差距的例证

尽管线性模型仍然是人力资源开发（HRD）和更广泛的社会科学研究的骨干，但它们因无法检测曲线或方向变化而受到限制，因此可能无法准确地表示变量之间关系的性质。本文主张在人力资源开发，工作，组织和就业研究文献中使用安德鲁斯（1993）阈值效应技术，并以性别工资差距为例。该分析比较了传统的线性回归，曲线二次模型和使用公开可用工资数据的阈值效应技术。本文演示了阈值方法如何允许数据有机地确定关键断点的位置（如果存在），以及它如何解决由于传统线性假设而导致的关系被忽视的问题。该技术及其相关编码的概述为有兴趣扩大其分析武库以增强对性别工资差距以及其他与人力资源相关现象的研究的研究人员提供。