​The classical statistical problem typically involves a probability distribution which depends on a number of unknown parameters. The form of the distribution may be known, partially or completely, and inferences have to be made on the basis of a sample of observations drawn from the distribution; often, but not necessarily, a random sample. This brief deals with problems where some of the sample members are either unobserved or hypothetical, the latter category being introduced as a means of better explaining the data. Sometimes we are interested in these kinds of variable themselves...

Drawing on the authors� varied experiences working and teaching in the field, Analysis of Multivariate Social Science Data, Second Editionenables a basic understanding of how to use key multivariate methods in the social sciences. With updates in every chapter, this edition expands its topics to include regression analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation models, and multilevel models.

After emphasizing the summarization of data in the first several chapters, the authors focus on regression analysis. This chapter provides a link between the two...