1932

Abstract

The paper discusses the use of latent variables in psychology and social science research. Local independence, expected value true scores, and nondeterministic functions of observed variables are three types of definitions for latent variables. These definitions are reviewed and an alternative “sample realizations” definition is presented. Another section briefly describes identification, latent variable indeterminancy, and other properties common to models with latent variables. The paper then reviews the role of latent variables in multiple regression, probit and logistic regression, factor analysis, latent curve models, item response theory, latent class analysis, and structural equation models. Though these application areas are diverse, the paper highlights the similarities as well as the differences in the manner in which the latent variables are defined and used. It concludes with an evaluation of the different definitions of latent variables and their properties.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135239
2002-02-01
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135239
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135239
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error