Date/Time
Date(s) - 29/06/2026 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Audience:
***Please note that this workshop will take place over two days***
NARTI Online Training and Development
Thinking Multilevel: An Introduction to Multilevel Quantitative Research
29 June and 2 July 2026 (10.00-13.00 UK time, both days)
Online via Zoom
OVERVIEW
Organisations function as multilevel systems in which entities such as employees, teams, and departments are hierarchically nested within one another. However, research questions and study designs do not always acknowledge these nested arrangements, focusing on single-level designs and analyses that fail to investigate the complex relationships between phenomena occurring at different levels. Drawing on the last three decades of research on multilevel modelling in quantitative research, this workshop aims to introduce doctoral researchers to multilevel thinking and modelling, focusing on how to align theory, research questions, and study design when data are hierarchically structured. Specifically, the workshop aims to help doctoral students to:
- Understand the main theoretical, methodological, and analytical considerations and issues in multilevel design;
- Reflect on the type of research questions that can be addressed through such design;
- Critically evaluate when and how multilevel designs can be appropriately used as part of a research project.
While the workshop will provide participants with an overview of the quantitative multilevel techniques commonly used in management and organisational research, it will not expand on the statistical techniques for data analysis. Rather, it intends to equip students with an appreciation of the key theoretical, methodological, and analytical considerations and steps to take into account when planning multi-level research.
PROGRAMME
The workshop will take place online over two days.
Session 1. 29th June 2026, 10:00-13:00
This session will cover the following:
- What does it mean to “think multilevel”? We will discuss the conceptual basis of multilevel design, reflecting on why and how single level perspectives (micro and macro) are often inadequate and limited and on the need of an integrative – or meso – perspective.
- Formulating multilevel research questions. This part will build on the theoretical development of multilevel research in terms of distinguishing the focal entities and their levels and specifying how phenomena at different levels are linked (e.g., contextual vs. emergent processes). It will also focus on the justification and underlying assumptions of a multilevel model.
- Designing multilevel studies (Part 1). This part will explain the data structure and multilevel relationships among variables in multilevel models, also providing examples of multilevel hypotheses.
Session 2. 2nd July 2026, 10:00-13:00
This session will address the following aspects:
- Designing multilevel studies (2). Building on session 1, this part will zoom into the main design considerations for multilevel research, including sampling and statistical power, measurement issues and aggregation. More advanced nested and longitudinal design – namely, experience sampling studies (including quantitative diary studies) – will also be introduced.
- Multilevel statistical modelling. This will illustrate the partition of covariance in multilevel models (fixed vs. random intercepts and slopes) and the test of cross-level interactions. Moreover, it will introduce multilevel structural equation modelling and the distinction between within and between levels of analysis.
The sessions will combine short lectures with applied examples drawn from management and organisational research. Participants will work in small groups to analyse and critique relevant articles as well as complete group activities. Time will be reserved for questions and discussion of participants own projects as relevant. Slides and a list of reading will be provided to participants after each session.
The intended audience is doctoral students, ideally in their first year of studies. However, the workshop is open to doctoral students across all years with an interest in quantitative research methods. The requirements for participation include good knowledge and mastery of basic quantitative research methods, including survey design, regression models, and structural equation modelling (SEM).
PRESENTERS
The presenter and organiser, Dr Mariella Miraglia ([email protected]), is Reader in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management at the University of Liverpool Management School. With a background in Organisational Psychology, Mariella’s research explores health and wellbeing in organisations, performance management and feedback, and job design, predominantly adopting quantitative research methods, including multilevel and longitudinal designs and meta-analyses. Her work has been published in leading journals in the field, such as the Academy of Management Annals, Human Relations, Human Resource Management, and Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
Session 2 will also be presented by Ms Janina Hufsky, a second-year PhD student in Management and Graduate Teaching Fellow at the University of Liverpool Management School. Janina’s research focuses on the dynamics of workaholism, explored through advanced quantitative methods, including diary studies. She holds an MSc in Business Psychology from the University of Manchester.
If you would like to join the workshop and can commit to attending both sessions, please register via the link at the top of the page.