A latent variable modeling-based procedure is discussed that permits to readily point and interval estimate the design effect index in multilevel settings using widely circulated software. The method provides useful information about the relationship of important parameter standard errors when accounting for clustering effects relative to conducting single-level analyses. The approach can also be employed as an addendum to point and interval estimation of the intraclass correlation coefficient in empirical research. The discussed procedure makes it easily possible to evaluate the design effect in two-level studies by utilizing the popular latent variable modeling methodology and is illustrated with an example.

讨论了基于潜变量建模的程序，该程序允许使用广泛流通的软件在多级设置中轻松点和区间估计设计效果指数。在考虑相对于进行单水平分析的聚类效应时，该方法提供了有关重要参数标准误差关系的有用信息。该方法还可以用作实证研究中类内相关系数的点估计和区间估计的补充。所讨论的过程使得可以利用流行的潜变量建模方法轻松评估两水平研究中的设计效果，并通过示例进行说明。