This Article Full Text (PDF) Online Appendix References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Google Scholar Articles by Leung, S.-O. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

A Three-Dimensional Latent Variable Model for Attitude Scales

University of Macau, Taipa, China, soleung{at}umac.mo

The author proposes a three-dimensional latent variable (trait) model for analyzing attitudinal scaled data. It is successfully applied to two examples: one with 12 binary items and the other with 8 items of five categories each. The models are exploratory instead of confirmatory, and subscales from which data were selected are clearly identified. For binary items, it gives similar results with factor analysis. For polytomous items, it can estimate category scores simultaneously with the internal structure. From that, another dimension of the degree to take moderate views is extracted. This is because conventional analyses usually fix category scores as numbers, while they are free to vary in latent variable models. Computational problems are discussed, and it is expected that more than three dimensions are possible given today's computing power and tailor-made methods such as adaptive quadrature points for numerical integrations.

Key Words: latent variable models • multidimensional model • factor analysis • binary items • polytomous items • attitude scale

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?