Error Msg - Variation within a cluster PreviousNext
Mplus Discussion > Multilevel Data/Complex Sample >
Message/Author
 Patchara Popaitoon posted on Saturday, August 13, 2011 - 12:12 pm
Dear Linda,

I got this error in the analysis of the multilevel data. I have checked on cluster (I think the cluster is the entity at the group level) containing value '41' and found that all the variables at the group level belonging to this cluster including 'OCBSD1' and 'OCBSD2' contain identical values. I am not sure why this problem persists. Please advise if I have checked on the wrong spot. Thank you.

Below is the error obtained:
One or more between-level variables have variation within a cluster for
one or more clusters. Check your data and format statement.

Between Cluster ID with variation in this variable
Variable (only one cluster ID will be listed)

OCBSD1 41
OCBSD2 41
 Linda K. Muthen posted on Saturday, August 13, 2011 - 2:09 pm
Please send your data, output, and license number to support@statmodel.com.
 sunyoung yoon posted on Friday, January 20, 2012 - 6:32 pm
I have an exactly same problem with the above. Should I email? But I don't have a license number because I'm using Mplus through school server.
 Linda K. Muthen posted on Saturday, January 21, 2012 - 5:57 am
Variables on the BETWEEEN list must have the same value for each person in a cluster. Check your data.
 Sungchul Cho posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 2:03 am
Dear Linda,

I got this error massage from the analysis of the multilevel data (see below). I have checked my data but it seems fine. Could you please suggest how to deal with the issue?

Many thanks.


MODEL:
%WITHIN%
TE BY b1@1 b2 b3-b7;
NE BY n2@1 n3 n4 n5;
UP BY u1@1 u2-u4;
NExTE | NE XWITH TE;
UP ON NE TE NExTE;
%BETWEEN%
TEB BY b1@1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7;
NEB BY n2@1 n3 n4 n5;
NEB ON TEB rc1;
ANALYSIS: TYPE = TWOLEVEL RANDOM;
ALGORITHM = INTEGRATION;
INTEGRATION = 2;
MITERATIONS IS 10000;
MCONVERGENCE IS 0.001;

*** ERROR
One or more between-level variables have variation within a cluster for
one or more clusters. Check your data and format statement.

Between Cluster ID with variation in this variable
Variable (only one cluster ID will be listed)

RC1 336
 Linda K. Muthen posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 6:22 am
Please send your output, data, and license number to support@statmodel.com.
 Martin Steppan posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 8:46 am
Hello!
I have exactly the same problem as mentioned above. I get the following message, although I have checked the data several times.

One or more between-level variables have variation within a cluster for
one or more clusters. Check your data and format statement.
Can you help me?
 Linda K. Muthen posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 9:39 am
Please send your output, data, and license number to support@statmodel.com.
 christine meng posted on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 1:02 am
I have the same problem. I checked the data and found out that some clusters had the same value. What would you suggest? Should I group the clusters with the same value together?
 Linda K. Muthen posted on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 6:21 am
No. Between-level variables should have the same value for each member of a cluster. If two clusters coincidentally have the same values, they should not be grouped together.
 Manuela Jimenez posted on Thursday, July 21, 2016 - 5:20 pm
Hello,

I am running a three level model and I'm getting this variation within a cluster error message for a cluster at level 2. I've checked the data and there is no variation in the variables I'm using. I had previously run this model as a two level model and I did not get this message, even though that one had the same grouping cluster at level 2, do you have any suggestions as to next steps?

Thanks for your help
 Bengt O. Muthen posted on Thursday, July 21, 2016 - 5:26 pm
We need to see your data and output. Send to support along with your license number.
 Michael Halinski posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2020 - 1:22 pm
Professor Muthen,

I'm having a problem similar to others on here. My error states that one of my variables has variation within a cluster. However, when I check my data, there is no variation. Any idea what I should do? Where do I send my data and output?

Thanks,
Mike
 Bengt O. Muthen posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2020 - 3:04 pm
Usually in these cases, when users send us their data and output, we find that there is an error in their list of variables as given in the NAMES option - or some other mistake. Because that is so special to the situation, we don't post the answer. So we need to see your output and data - send to Support along with your license number.
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