Latent class model

In statistics, a latent class model (LCM) relates a set of observed (usually discrete) multivariate variables to
a set of latent variables. It is a type of latent variable model. It is called a latent class model because the
latent variable is discrete. A class is characterized by a pattern of conditional probabilities that indicate the
chance that variables take on certain values.

Latent class analysis (LCA) is a subset of structural equation modeling, used to find groups or subtypes of
cases in multivariate categorical data. These subtypes are called "latent classes".[1][2]

Confronted with a situation as follows, a researcher might choose to use LCA to understand the data:
Imagine that symptoms a-d have been measured in a range of patients with diseases X, Y, and Z, and that
disease X is associated with the presence of symptoms a, b, and c, disease Y with symptoms b, c, d, and
disease Z with symptoms a, c and d.

The LCA will attempt to detect the presence of latent classes (the disease entities), creating patterns of
association in the symptoms. As in factor analysis, the LCA can also be used to classify case according to
their maximum likelihood class membership.[1][3]

Because the criterion for solving the LCA is to achieve latent classes within which there is no longer any
association of one symptom with another (because the class is the disease which causes their association),
and the set of diseases a patient has (or class a case is a member of) causes the symptom association, the
symptoms will be "conditionally independent", i.e., conditional on class membership, they are no longer
related.[1]

Model
Within each latent class, the observed variables are statistically independent. This is an important aspect.
Usually the observed variables are statistically dependent. By introducing the latent variable, independence
is restored in the sense that within classes variables are independent (local independence). We then say that
the association between the observed variables is explained by the classes of the latent variable
(McCutcheon, 1987).

In one form, the latent class model is written as

where is the number of latent classes and are the so-called recruitment or unconditional probabilities
that should sum to one. are the marginal or conditional probabilities.

For a two-way latent class model, the form is

Related methods
There are a number of methods with distinct names and uses that share a common relationship. Cluster
analysis is, like LCA, used to discover taxon-like groups of cases in data. Multivariate mixture estimation
(MME) is applicable to continuous data, and assumes that such data arise from a mixture of distributions:
imagine a set of heights arising from a mixture of men and women. If a multivariate mixture estimation is
constrained so that measures must be uncorrelated within each distribution, it is termed latent profile
analysis. Modified to handle discrete data, this constrained analysis is known as LCA. Discrete latent trait
models further constrain the classes to form from segments of a single dimension: essentially allocating
members to classes on that dimension: an example would be assigning cases to social classes on a
dimension of ability or merit.

As a practical instance, the variables could be multiple choice items of a political questionnaire. The data in
this case consists of a N-way contingency table with answers to the items for a number of respondents. In
this example, the latent variable refers to political opinion and the latent classes to political groups. Given
group membership, the conditional probabilities specify the chance certain answers are chosen.

Application
LCA may be used in many fields, such as: collaborative filtering,[4] Behavior Genetics[5] and Evaluation of
diagnostic tests (http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v8/n12_supp/full/nrmicro1523.html).[6]

References
1. Lazarsfeld, P.F. and Henry, N.W. (1968) Latent structure analysis. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
2. Formann, A. K. (1984). Latent Class Analyse: Einführung in die Theorie und Anwendung
[Latent class analysis: Introduction to theory and application]. Weinheim: Beltz.
3. Teichert, Thorsten (2000). "Das Latent-Ciass Verfahren zur Segmentierung von
wahlbasierten Conjoint-Daten. Befunde einer empirischen Anwendung" (https://dx.doi.org/1
0.15358/0344-1369-2000-3-227). Marketing ZFP. 22 (3): 227–240. doi:10.15358/0344-1369-
2000-3-227 (https://doi.org/10.15358%2F0344-1369-2000-3-227). ISSN 0344-1369 (https://
www.worldcat.org/issn/0344-1369).
4. Cheung, Kwok-Wai; Tsui, Kwok-Ching; Liu, Jiming (2004). "Extended latent class models for
collaborative recommendation". IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics -
Part A: Systems and Humans. 34 (1): 143–148. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.6.2234 (https://citeseerx.is
t.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.6.2234). doi:10.1109/TSMCA.2003.818877 (https://
doi.org/10.1109%2FTSMCA.2003.818877). S2CID 11628144 (https://api.semanticscholar.or
g/CorpusID:11628144).
5. Eaves, L. J., Silberg, J. L., Hewitt, J. K., Rutter, M., Meyer, J. M., Neale, M. C., & Pickles, A
(1993). "Analyzing twin resemblance in multisymptom data: genetic applications of a latent
class model for symptoms of conduct disorder in juvenile boys". Behavior Genetics. 23 (1):
5–19. doi:10.1007/bf01067550 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fbf01067550). PMID 8476390 (htt
ps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8476390). S2CID 40678009 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/C
orpusID:40678009).
6. Bermingham, M. L., Handel, I. G., Glass, E. J., Woolliams, J. A., de Clare Bronsvoort, B. M.,
McBride, S. H., Skuce, R. A., Allen, A . R., McDowell, S. W. J., & Bishop, S. C. (2015). "Hui
and Walter's latent-class model extended to estimate diagnostic test properties from
 surveillance data: a latent model for latent data" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC4493568). Scientific Reports. 5: 11861. Bibcode:2015NatSR...511861B (https://ui.adsab
s.harvard.edu/abs/2015NatSR...511861B). doi:10.1038/srep11861 (https://doi.org/10.1038%
2Fsrep11861). PMC 4493568 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4493568).
PMID 26148538 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26148538).

Linda M. Collins; Stephanie T. Lanza (2010). Latent class and latent transition analysis for
the social, behavioral, and health sciences. New York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-22839-5.
Allan L. McCutcheon (1987). Latent class analysis. Quantitative Applications in the Social
Sciences Series No. 64. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-0-521-
59451-6.
Leo A. Goodman (1974). "Exploratory latent structure analysis using both identifiable and
unidentifiable models". Biometrika. 61 (2): 215–231. doi:10.1093/biomet/61.2.215 (https://do
i.org/10.1093%2Fbiomet%2F61.2.215).
Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Neil W. Henry (1968). Latent Structure Analysis.

External links
Statistical Innovations, Home Page (http://www.statisticalinnovations.com/), 2016. Website
with latent class software (Latent GOLD 5.1), free demonstrations, tutorials, user guides, and
publications for download. Also included: online courses, FAQs, and other related software.
The Methodology Center, Latent Class Analysis (https://web.archive.org/web/201104040231
18/http://methodology.psu.edu/ra/lcalta), a research center at Penn State, free software, FAQ
John Uebersax, Latent Class Analysis (http://www.john-uebersax.com/stat/index.htm), 2006.
A web-site with bibliography, software, links and FAQ for latent class analysis

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