Chapter 32 - Correspondence Analysis Used Complementary to Latent Class Analysis in Comparative Social Research

Abstract

This chapter examines uses of the correspondence analysis (CA) for graphic displays of results of the latent class analysis (LCA), especially when these results are obtained for data from several groups simultaneously. Although the latent class analysis provides an attractive analytic technique for analyzing these data, the pattern of latent classes that results from such analyses may be difficult to represent. The CA offers an attractive complement to the simultaneous latent class analysis by providing a set of graphic displays that enable the visualization of the results of the simultaneous latent class analysis. The results of the latent class analysis of identical indicator variables in panel data, in a single panel or in multiple panels, can also be presented using the CA. The chapter presents several examples to indicate that the graphic displays provided by the CA can be used as an attractive complement for presenting results from complex latent class models. The chapter concludes with a discussion on uses of the CA for graphicly displaying the results of LCA.