论文标题
用有序的分类指标识别潜在类
Identifying latent classes with ordered categorical indicators
论文作者
论文摘要
使用蒙特卡洛模拟来确定哪些有序分类数据的假设,连续性与离散类别,最常识别响应变量具有五个有序类别时的基本因子结构。还检查了很少认可的响应类别的影响,这种情况尚未得到充分探讨。克服应用研究中很少认可类别的典型方法是,与相邻类别相邻类别的崩溃响应选项导致较少的响应类别被更频繁地认可,但这种方法可能不一定提供有用的信息。在项目响应理论中已经研究了响应类别的认可问题,但是在这些条件下,该问题尚未在分类分析中解决,也没有对拟合度量的绩效进行检查。我们发现,常用拟合统计信息以确定潜在类别的实际数量取决于是否假定连续性,样本量和收敛。当假定五个响应选项是分类时,FIT统计量最佳。但是,在样本量较低的情况下,当收敛是问题时,假设连续性并使用调整后的Lo-Mendell-Rubin可能性比测试可能是有用的。
A Monte Carlo simulation was used to determine which assumptions for ordered categorical data, continuity vs. discrete categories, most frequently identifies the underlying factor structure when a response variable has five ordered categories. The impact of infrequently endorsed response categories was also examined, a condition that has not been fully explored. The typical method for overcoming infrequently endorsed categories in applied research is to collapse response options with adjacent categories resulting in less response categories that are endorsed more frequently, but this approach may not necessarily provide useful information. Response category endorsement issues have been studied in Item Response Theory, but this issue has not been addressed in classification analyses nor has fit measure performance been examined under these conditions. We found that the performance of commonly used fit statistics to identify the true number of latent class depends on the whether continuity is assumed, sample size, and convergence. Fit statistics performed best when the five response options are assumed to be categorical. However, in situations with lower sample sizes and when convergence is an issue, assuming continuity and using the adjusted Lo-Mendell-Rubin likelihood ratio test may be useful.