Latent Class and Latent Transition Analysis: With Applications in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

by Linda M. Collins, Stephanie T. Lanza

A modern, comprehensive treatment of latent class and latent transition analysis for categorical data On a daily basis, researchers in the social, behavioral, and health sciences collect information and fit statistical models to the gathered empirical data with the goal of making significant advances in these fields. In many cases, it can be useful to identify latent, or unobserved, subgroups in a population, where individuals' subgroup membership is inferred from their responses on a set of observed variables. Latent Class and Latent Transition Analysis provides a comprehensive and unified introduction to this topic through one-of-a-kind, step-by-step presentations and coverage of theoretical, technical, and practical issues in categorical latent variable modeling for both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. The book begins with an introduction to latent class and latent transition analysis for categorical data. Subsequent chapters delve into more in-depth material, featuring: The authors present the topic in a style that is accessible yet rigorous. Each method is presented with both a theoretical background and the practical information that is useful for any data analyst. Empirical examples showcase the real-world applications of the discussed concepts and models, and each chapter concludes with a "Points to Remember" section that contains a brief summary of key ideas. All of the analyses in the book are performed using Proc LCA and Proc LTA, the authors' own software packages that can be run within the SAS® environment. A related Web site houses information on these freely available programs and the book's data sets, encouraging readers to reproduce the analyses and also try their own variations. Latent Class and Latent Transition Analysis is an excellent book for courses on categorical data analysis and latent variable models at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in the social, behavioral, and health sciences who conduct latent class and latent transition analysis in their everyday work.

330 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great starter book to read if you are into LCA and LPA. This book is mainly on LCA, so some of the minor or subtle nuances between doing LCA and LPA are not part of the book. Still, this is the foundation one would need to go into the world of categorical latent variables. If you are mainly doing LPA, like me, then handbook chapters are the next place to go for a more LPA focused understanding.

[Quiet_Inside · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intuitive examples