This Article Full Text (PDF) 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 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 Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Collins, L. M. Articles by Dent, C. W. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Longitudinal Guttman Simplex: A New Methodology for Measurement of Dynamic Constructs in Longitudinal Panel Studies

University of Southern California

Norman Cliff

University of Southern California

Clyde W. Dent

University of Southern California

Traditional psychometric procedures can be inade quate for the measurement of dynamic constructs in longitudinal panel studies. This paper introduces an al ternative based on the longitudinal Guttman simplex (LGS) model, a measurement model developed espe cially for dynamic constructs measured longitudinally. The LGS is a model of cumulative, unitary develop ment. It is cumulative in the sense that as persons ac quire new skills (or abilities, or opinions), earlier ob tained skills are retained; it is unitary in the sense that all persons progress through a sequence of skills in the same skill order. CL, a consistency index that gives the researcher a measure of the extent to which the LGS model axioms are obeyed in a given dataset, is introduced. By making use of this consistency index, the researcher can develop scales uniquely sensitive to cumulative, unitary development. LGSCLUS, an explor atory procedure to find longitudinal Guttman scales in empirical datasets, is described. An artificial data study is reported, the purpose of which was to test the performance of LGSCLUS under controlled conditions. The artificial data study showed that, in general, LGSCLUS recovers longitudinal Guttman scales with a high degree of accuracy. There remains a need for measurement procedures for dynamic constructs exhib iting types of development other than cumulative and unitary. Index terms: Dynamic constructs, Gutt man simplex, Longitudinal panel studies, Mathemati cal models, Measurement theory, Scaling, Three-set data.

Applied Psychological Measurement, Vol. 12, No. 3, 217-230 (1988)
DOI: 10.1177/014662168801200301


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

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. R. Rausch Investigating Change in Intraindividual Factor Structure Over Time Applied Psychological Measurement, June 1, 2009; 33(4): 266 - 284. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Langeheine, E. Stern, and F. van de Pol State Mastery Learning: Dynamic Models for Longitudinal Data Applied Psychological Measurement, September 1, 1994; 18(3): 277 - 291. [Abstract] [PDF]