Course Information

1. Basic course (August 1 - 5, 2016) 

“Latent Curve Models: a Structural Equation Perspective”

Instructor: Kenneth A. Bollen (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)

Assistant: Irina Vartanova (LCSR Associate Researcher, St. Petersburg, Russia)

Abstract:

Latent Curve Models (LCMs) are an increasingly popular approach to analyze longitudinal data. Though the models go by many names (e.g., growth curve modeling, latent growth models, latent trajectory models), they all refer to statistical models for longitudinal data that allow each individual in the sample to have distinct over-time trajectories of change.  These patterns of change are summarized in relatively few parameters. The parameters in turn are modeled as functions of other variables. 

With the growing availability of longitudinal or panel data, social science applications of and interests in LCM have increased.  The formulations and estimation of these models have proceeded in several ways.  In the workshop we will analyze the LCMs from the perspective of structural equation modeling with latent variables.  Although I will present simple regression based procedures that are helpful in the early stages of LCM, most of our discussion will make use of Structural Equation Models (SEMs). 

The instructor assumes that participants have background in SEMs prior to the course, including familiarity with at least one SEM package.  The major topics of the course are: an overview of trajectory models & a review of SEMs, unconditional latent curve models (LCMs), nonlinear LCMs, conditional LCMs, the analysis of groups, multivariate LCMs, and latent variable LCMs. 

2. Additional course (July 25 - 29, 2016) 

"Introduction to SEM and SEM Software"

Instructor: Boris Sokolov (LCSR Research Fellow, St. Petersburg, Russia).

Abstract: 

Coming soon...