6 - Some Practical Issues Related to the Estimation of Latent Class and Latent Transition Parameters

Abstract

This chapter explains the practical issues related to the estimation of latent class and latent transition parameters. Developmental models involve qualitatively different subgroups of individuals, such as learning disabled versus normal learners, children who have been abused versus children who have not, or substance use abstainers versus experimenters versus regular users. Other developmental models hypothesize that individuals go through a sequence of discrete stages, such as the stages in Piaget's theories of development stages of moral development. The purpose of the chapter is to address two practical issues related to parameter estimation in latent class and latent transition models. These practical issues arise frequently in developmental research. The first issue has to do with parameter estimation when the number of subjects is small in relation to the number of response patterns as latent class and latent transition models become used more extensively, It is inevitable that the researchers will attempt to test increasingly complex models.