Applications of latent trait and latent class models in the social sciences

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In educational, psychological, and sociological research, analyzing empirical data using latent variables is increasingly standard. These theoretical constructs account for relationships among observed variables to explain their contingencies. This volume presents around 40 applications of latent variable models across various social science fields, including educational assessment, cognitive and personality psychology, life satisfaction surveys, deviant behavior, social attitudes, and epidemiological and longitudinal studies. Esteemed researchers contributed their favored applications, alongside findings from diverse disciplines. To maintain accessibility, the applied chapters minimize mathematical presentations of the statistical models. An introductory chapter serves as a guide to latent structure models, outlining the differences and relationships among various models and referencing relevant application chapters. This book is aimed at graduate students and applied researchers interested in utilizing these models in their research or understanding the benefits of this statistical analysis.