Comparing Three Effect Sizes for Latent Class Analysis

• Main Author: Granado, Elvalicia A.
• Other Authors: Natesan, Prathiba
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2015
• Subjects: latent class analysis; effect size; entropy R2; I-index; Cohen’s d; classification accuracy; Monte Carlo study; Latent structure analysis.; Latent variables.; Effect sizes (Statistics); Error analysis (Mathematics)
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822835/

Traditional latent class analysis (LCA) considers entropy R2 as the only measure of effect size. However, entropy may not always be reliable, a low boundary is not agreed upon, and good separation is limited to values of greater than .80. As applications of LCA grow in popularity, it is imperative to use additional sources to quantify LCA classification accuracy. Greater classification accuracy helps to ensure that the profile of the latent classes reflect the profile of the true underlying subgroups. This Monte Carlo study compared the quantification of classification accuracy and confidence intervals of three effect sizes, entropy R2, I-index, and Cohen’s d. Study conditions included total sample size, number of dichotomous indicators, latent class membership probabilities (γ), conditional item-response probabilities (ρ), variance ratio, sample size ratio, and distribution types for a 2-class model. Overall, entropy R2 and I-index showed the best accuracy and standard error, along with the smallest confidence interval widths. Results showed that I-index only performed well for a few cases.