Latent Class and Latent Transition Analysis

A modern, comprehensive treatment of latent class and latenttransition analysis for categorical dataOn a daily basis, researchers in the social, behavioral, andhealth sciences collect information and fit statistical models tothe gathered empirical data with the goal of making significantadvances in these fields. In many cases, it can be useful toidentify latent, or unobserved, subgroups in a population, whereindividuals' subgroup membership is inferred from their responseson a set of observed variables. Latent Class and LatentTransition Analysis provides a comprehensive and unifiedintroduction to this topic through one-of-a-kind, step-by-steppresentations and coverage of theoretical, technical, and practicalissues in categorical latent variable modeling for bothcross-sectional and longitudinal data.The book begins with an introduction to latent class and latenttransition analysis for categorical data. Subsequent chapters delveinto more in-depth material, featuring:* A complete treatment of longitudinal latent class models* Focused coverage of the conceptual underpinnings ofinterpretation and evaluationof a latent class solution* Use of parameter restrictions and detection of identificationproblems* Advanced topics such as multi-group analysis and the modelingand interpretation of interactions between covariatesThe authors present the topic in a style that is accessible yetrigorous. Each method is presented with both a theoreticalbackground and the practical information that is useful for anydata analyst. Empirical examples showcase the real-worldapplications of the discussed concepts and models, and each chapterconcludes with a "Points to Remember" section that contains a briefsummary of key ideas. All of the analyses in the book are performedusing Proc LCA and Proc LTA, the authors' own software packagesthat can be run within the SAS® environment. A related Website houses information on these freely available programs and thebook's data sets, encouraging readers to reproduce the analyses andalso try their own variations.Latent Class and Latent Transition Analysis is anexcellent book for courses on categorical data analysis and latentvariable models at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. Itis also a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners inthe social, behavioral, and health sciences who conduct latentclass and latent transition analysis in their everyday work.