Quantitude S7E09 Modeling Categorical Change with Latent Transition Analysis
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Nov 18, 2025 Discover the intriguing concept of latent transition analysis, a method that tracks changes in class membership over time. The hosts humorously dive into identity crises, faculty meeting archetypes, and the fine line between Pepsi and Coke. They explore the complexities of mixture models, discussing how to manage transitions and interpret probabilities. With anecdotes that lighten the mood, they consider the consequences of adding predictors and the importance of theoretical grounding in choosing models. Get ready for a mix of education and entertainment!
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Identity Crisis Texts And Faculty Personas
- Greg texted Patrick in the middle of an identity crisis saying, "dude, I don't even know who I am anymore."
- Patrick later teased Greg about becoming a nihilist and compared faculty roles to community dinner theater.
Faculty Meeting Archetypes As Classes
- Patrick and Greg mapped faculty meeting archetypes like historian, scribe, and parliamentarian to latent classes.
- Patrick joked he'd become the crossword puzzler who attends but does puzzles instead of contributing.
Mixture Models Reveal Hidden Groups
- A finite mixture model infers unobserved groups by assuming distinct distributions for each latent class.
- Pearson's approach separates mixed distributions into class-specific means, variances, and mixing probabilities.
