Hi everyone,

A friend of mine has constructed a three-levels dataset by content analyzing
a sample of newspapers. At Level-1, there are 6090 news stories with nine
variables from content characteristics.  At Level-2, there are 114 daily
newspaper from a national random sample, stratified by circulation size and
ownership types.  Two L2 group level predictors are included: circulation of
the newspaper and a measure of concentration of population in their
corresponding geographic area. At Level-3, there are 59 ownership groups.
Only one group level predictor which is the public/private  characteristic
of each ownership group.

My friend asked me whether is correct to include at level-3 dummy variables
that account for the ownership groups and I found this approach redundant
since the level three itself represents the same ownership groups; however,
I could not offer to him a reasonable explanation for this.

Would his approach be viable in any situation or is that something that
we should always avoid?

Thanks for any help or guidance on this issue.

Best,

David

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