Multidimensional Nonlinear Descriptive Analysis

Quantification of categorical, or non-numerical, data is a problem that scientists face across a wide range of disciplines. Exploring data analysis in various areas of research, such as the social sciences and biology, Multidimensional Nonlinear Descriptive Analysis presents methods for analyzing categorical data that are not necessarily sam

This book expounds the principle and related applications of nonlinear principal component analysis (PCA), which is useful method to analyze mixed measurement levels data. In the part dealing with the principle, after a brief introduction of ordinary PCA, a PCA for categorical data (nominal and ordinal) is introduced as nonlinear PCA, in which an optimal scaling technique is used to quantify the categorical variables. The alternating least squares (ALS) is the main algorithm in the method. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), a special case of nonlinear PCA, is also introduced. All formulations in these methods are integrated in the same manner as matrix operations. Because any measurement levels data can be treated consistently as numerical data and ALS is a very powerful tool for estimations, the methods can be utilized in a variety of fields such as biometrics, econometrics, psychometrics, and sociology. In the applications part of the book, four applications are introduced: variable selection for mixed measurement levels data, sparse MCA, joint dimension reduction and clustering methods for categorical data, and acceleration of ALS computation. The variable selection methods in PCA that originally were developed for numerical data can be applied to any types of measurement levels by using nonlinear PCA. Sparseness and joint dimension reduction and clustering for nonlinear data, the results of recent studies, are extensions obtained by the same matrix operations in nonlinear PCA. Finally, an acceleration algorithm is proposed to reduce the problem of computational cost in the ALS iteration in nonlinear multivariate methods. This book thus presents the usefulness of nonlinear PCA which can be applied to different measurement levels data in diverse fields. As well, it covers the latest topics including the extension of the traditional statistical method, newly proposed nonlinear methods, and computational efficiency in the methods.

This edited book is the first one written in English that deals comprehensively with behavior metrics. The term “behaviormetrics” comprehends the research including all sorts of quantitative approaches to disclose human behavior. Researchers in behavior metrics have developed, extended, and improved methods such as multivariate statistical analysis, survey methods, cluster analysis, machine learning, multidimensional scaling, corresponding analysis or quantification theory, network analysis, clustering, factor analysis, test theory, and related factors. In the spirit of behavior metrics, researchers applied these methods to data obtained by surveys, experiments, or websites from a diverse range of fields. The purpose of this book is twofold. One is to represent studies that display how the basic elements of behavior metrics have developed into present-day behavior metrics. The other is to represent studies performed mainly by those who would like to pioneer new fields of behavior metrics and studies that display elements of future behavior metrics. These studies consist of various characteristics such as those dealing with theoretical or conceptual subjects, the algorithm, the model, the method, and the application to a wide variety of fields. This book helps readers to understand the present and future of behavior metrics.

This volume provides approaches and solutions to challenges occurring at the interface of research fields such as data analysis, computer science, operations research, and statistics. It includes theoretically oriented contributions as well as papers from various application areas, where knowledge from different research directions is needed to find the best possible interpretation of data for the underlying problem situations. Beside traditional classification research, the book focuses on current interests in fields such as the analysis of social relationships as well as statistical musicology.

Master the fundamentals of correspondence analysis with this illuminating resource An Introduction to Correspondence Analysis assists researchers in improving their familiarity with the concepts, terminology, and application of several variants of correspondence analysis. The accomplished academics and authors deliver a comprehensive and insightful treatment of the fundamentals of correspondence analysis, including the statistical and visual aspects of the subject. Written in three parts, the book begins by offering readers a description of two variants of correspondence analysis that can be applied to two-way contingency tables for nominal categories of variables. Part Two shifts the discussion to categories of ordinal variables and demonstrates how the ordered structure of these variables can be incorporated into a correspondence analysis. Part Three describes the analysis of multiple nominal categorical variables, including both multiple correspondence analysis and multi-way correspondence analysis. Readers will benefit from explanations of a wide variety of specific topics, for example: Simple correspondence analysis, including how to reduce multidimensional space, measuring symmetric associations with the Pearson Ratio, constructing low-dimensional displays, and detecting statistically significant points Non-symmetrical correspondence analysis, including quantifying asymmetric associations Simple ordinal correspondence analysis, including how to decompose the Pearson Residual for ordinal variables Multiple correspondence analysis, including crisp coding and the indicator matrix, the Burt Matrix, and stacking Multi-way correspondence analysis, including symmetric multi-way analysis Perfect for researchers who seek to improve their understanding of key concepts in the graphical analysis of categorical data, An Introduction to Correspondence Analysis will also assist readers already familiar with correspondence analysis who wish to review the theoretical and foundational underpinnings of crucial concepts.

This book offers a unique new look at the familiar quantification theory from the point of view of mathematical symmetry and spatial symmetry. Symmetry exists in many aspects of our life—for instance, in the arts and biology as an ingredient of beauty and equilibrium, and more importantly, for data analysis as an indispensable representation of functional optimality. This unique focus on symmetry clarifies the objectives of quantification theory and the demarcation of quantification space, something that has never caught the attention of researchers. Mathematical symmetry is well known, as can be inferred from Hirschfeld’s simultaneous linear regressions, but spatial symmetry has not been discussed before, except for what one may infer from Nishisato’s dual scaling. The focus on symmetry here clarifies the demarcation of quantification analysis and makes it easier to understand such a perennial problem as that of joint graphical display in quantification theory. The new framework will help advance the frontier of further developments of quantification theory. Many numerical examples are included to clarify the details of quantification theory, with a focus on symmetry as its operational principle. In this way, the book is useful not only for graduate students but also for researchers in diverse areas of data analysis.

`I often... wonder to myself whether the field needs another book, handbook, or encyclopedia on this topic. In this case I think that the answer is truly yes. The handbook is well focused on important issues in the field, and the chapters are written by recognized authorities in their fields. The book should appeal to anyone who wants an understanding of important topics that frequently go uncovered in graduate education in psychology′ - David C Howell, Professor Emeritus, University of Vermont Quantitative psychology is arguably one of the oldest disciplines within the field of psychology and nearly all psychologists are exposed to quantitative psychology in some form. While textbooks in statistics, research methods and psychological measurement exist, none offer a unified treatment of quantitative psychology. The SAGE Handbook of Quantitative Methods in Psychology does just that. Each chapter covers a methodological topic with equal attention paid to established theory and the challenges facing methodologists as they address new research questions using that particular methodology. The reader will come away from each chapter with a greater understanding of the methodology being addressed as well as an understanding of the directions for future developments within that methodological area. Drawing on a global scholarship, the Handbook is divided into seven parts: Part One: Design and Inference: addresses issues in the inference of causal relations from experimental and non-experimental research, along with the design of true experiments and quasi-experiments, and the problem of missing data due to various influences such as attrition or non-compliance. Part Two: Measurement Theory: begins with a chapter on classical test theory, followed by the common factor analysis model as a model for psychological measurement. The models for continuous latent variables in item-response theory are covered next, followed by a chapter on discrete latent variable models as represented in latent class analysis. Part Three: Scaling Methods: covers metric and non-metric scaling methods as developed in multidimensional scaling, followed by consideration of the scaling of discrete measures as found in dual scaling and correspondence analysis. Models for preference data such as those found in random utility theory are covered next. Part Four: Data Analysis: includes chapters on regression models, categorical data analysis, multilevel or hierarchical models, resampling methods, robust data analysis, meta-analysis, Bayesian data analysis, and cluster analysis. Part Five: Structural Equation Models: addresses topics in general structural equation modeling, nonlinear structural equation models, mixture models, and multilevel structural equation models. Part Six: Longitudinal Models: covers the analysis of longitudinal data via mixed modeling, time series analysis and event history analysis. Part Seven: Specialized Models: covers specific topics including the analysis of neuro-imaging data and functional data-analysis.

The purpose of this book is to thoroughly prepare diverse areas of researchers in quantification theory. As is well known, quantification theory has attracted the attention of a countless number of researchers, some mathematically oriented and others not, but all of them are experts in their own disciplines. Quantifying non-quantitative (qualitative) data requires a variety of mathematical and statistical strategies, some of which are quite complicated. Unlike many books on quantification theory, the current book places more emphasis on preliminary requisites of mathematical tools than on details of quantification theory. As such, the book is primarily intended for readers whose specialty is outside mathematical sciences. The book was designed to offer non-mathematicians a variety of mathematical tools used in quantification theory in simple terms. Once all the preliminaries are fully discussed, quantification theory is then introduced in the last section as a simple application of those mathematical procedures fully discussed so far. The book opens up further frontiers of quantification theory as simple applications of basic mathematics.