Exploring marriage-parenting typologies and their contextual antecedents and developmental sequelae

To identify types of families, latent-class analysis was applied to (reported) marriage and (observed) parenting measures obtained during the infancy, toddler, and/or preschool years for 828 two-parent families participating in the NICHD Study of Child Care. Five types of families were identified: Consistently Supportive (i.e., good parenting, good marriage, 15% of sample), Consistently Moderate (i.e., moderate marriage, moderate parenting, 43%), Consistently Risky (i.e., poor parenting, poor marriage, 16%), Good Parenting/Poor Marriage (19%), and Poor Parenting/Good Marriage (7%). When groups were compared in terms of contextual antecedents (measured at child age I month) and child cognitive-academic and socioemotional functioning in first grade, results indicated (a) that contextual risks increased linearly and children's functioning decreased linearly as one moved across the first three aforementioned groups; and after controlling for group differences in background factors (b) that children in the Good-Parenting/Poor-Marriage families outperformed those in the Poor Parenting/Good Marriage; (c) that there was evidence of "added value" developmentally when children experienced two sources of support (i.e., good marriage and good parenting) rather than just one (i.e., good marriage or good parenting); but (d) that there was only modest evidence of protective buffering whereby children experiencing just good parenting (but not just good marriages) outperformed children experiencing poor parenting and poor marriages. Results are discussed in terms of the relative influence of marriage and parenting on child development and the potential benefits of applying typological approaches to the study of marriage-parenting family subsystems

Holistic corpus-based dialectology

This paper is concerned with sketching future directions for corpus-based dialectology. We advocate a holistic approach to the study of geographically conditioned linguistic variability, and we present a suitable methodology, 'corpusbased dialectometry', in exactly this spirit. Specifically, we argue that in order to live up to the potential of the corpus-based method, practitioners need to (i) abandon their exclusive focus on individual linguistic features in favor of the study of feature aggregates, (ii) draw on computationally advanced multivariate analysis techniques (such as multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis), and (iii) aid interpretation of empirical results by marshalling state-of-the-art data visualization techniques. To exemplify this line of analysis, we present a case study which explores joint frequency variability of 57 morphosyntax features in 34 dialects all over Great Britain

A typological approach to studying policing

Policing in the United States has experienced immense change throughout the past quarter-century. Although police agencies have shared their goals of preserving life and protecting property, their philosophies and practices for achieving these goals have differed. The present research, therefore, explores patterns in policing via a novel, typological approach. Using six waves of data (1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2013) from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) data series, we first employ factor analyses to generate indices for six important policing dimensions: (1) officer diversity, (2) community policing, (3) patrol strategy diversity, (4) militancy, (5) technology, and (6) staffing rigor. Using these indices, we then employ latent class analyses to construct typologies of police agencies, and examine the distribution of such typologies across space at various points in time. Our results reveal several key findings. We detect consistent patterns in typologies across time, including classes with high militancy, high diversity, or low staffing rigor (among others). Within these sets of classes, we also detect micro-heterogeneity amongst patterns of index values: for example, subsets of classes which all score high on one dimension but score high versus low on other dimensions. Finally, we find evidence to suggest spatial convergence of typologies in one large geographic region: Southern California. By offering a multidimensional classification scheme over a 20-year period, we contribute to the policing literature by highlighting the importance and implications of studying multiple policing dimensions simultaneously

Capturing and Treating Unobserved Heterogeneity by Response Based Segmentation in PLS Path Modeling. A Comparison of Alternative Methods by Computational Experiments

Segmentation in PLS path modeling framework results is a critical issue in social sciences. The assumption that data is collected from a single homogeneous population is often unrealistic. Sequential clustering techniques on the manifest variables level are ineffective to account for heterogeneity in path model estimates. Three PLS path model related statistical approaches have been developed as solutions for this problem. The purpose of this paper is to present a study on sets of simulated data with different characteristics that allows a primary assessment of these methodologies.Partial Least Squares; Path Modeling; Unobserved Heterogeneity

Soc Indic Res

Despite significant interest in the changing nature of employment as a critical social and economic challenge facing society-especially the decline in the so-called Standard Employment Relationship (SER) and rise in more insecure, precarious forms of employment-scholars have struggled to operationalize the multifaceted and heterogeneous nature of contemporary worker-employer relationships within empirical analyses. Here we investigate the character and distribution of employment relationships in the U.S., drawing on a representative sample of wage-earners and self-employed from the General Social Survey (2002 - 2018). We use the multidimensional construct of employment quality (EQ), which includes both contractual (e.g., wages, contract type) and relational (e.g., employee representation and participation) aspects of employment. We further employ a typological measurement approach, using latent class analysis, to explicitly examine how the multiple aspects of employment cluster together in modern labor markets. We present eight distinct employment types in the U.S., including one resembling the historical conception of the SER model (24% of the total workforce), and others representing various constellations of favorable and adverse employment features. These employment types are unevenly distributed across society, in terms of who works these jobs and where they are found in the labor market. Importantly, women, those with lower education, and younger workers are more likely to be in precarious forms of employment. More generally, our typology reveals limitations associated with binary conceptions of standard vs. non-standard employment, or insider-outsider dichotomies envisioned within dual labor market theories.CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/F31 MD013357/MD/NIMHD NIH HHSUnited States/R01 AG060011/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States

Identifying a Typology of Homelessness Based on Self-Sufficiency: Implications for Rapid Re-Housing Interventions

Aims: There is limited research on the characteristics of individuals experiencing homelessness who achieve positive housing outcomes in rapid re-housing (RRH) interventions. This study aimed to identify a typology of homelessness based on Self-Sufficiency Matrix (SSM) domains and examine its relation to sociodemographic characteristics and housing placement in RRH. Methods: Homeless Management Information System data, including sociodemographics, SSM domains, and housing outcomes, were obtained for 261 Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program participants in Indianapolis, IN. Results: Latent class analysis revealed three subgroups based on SSM domains. Latent class regression found the subgroups were significantly associated with race and significantly predicted housing placement during RRH services. Conclusions: Future research is needed to understand factors influencing differential self-sufficiency, as measured by the SSM, among Black and White individuals. Results affirm that individuals with greater psychosocial self-sufficiency have better housing outcomes in RRH than those with more complex support needs

Semantic typology: New approaches to crosslinguistic variation in language and cognition

This article presents an overview of the goals and methods of semantic typology, the study of the distribution of semantic categories across languages. Results from this field inform theoretical accounts of syntax-semantics interface phenomena, as well as the nature of the relationship between language and cognition. This article discusses a variety of quantitative methods that represent recent efforts in semantic typology to (i) discover patterns in the distribution of independent variables and (ii) predict the distribution of dependent variables in relation to identified independent variables. Such methods include Multi-Dimensional Scaling, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, and Generalized Linear Mixed Effects regression analyses. We identify and discuss notable published examples of these methods used in semantic typology

Personality types revisited–a literature-informed and data-driven approach to an integration of prototypical and dimensional constructs of personality description

A new algorithmic approach to personality prototyping based on Big Five traits was applied to a large representative and longitudinal German dataset (N = 22,820) including behavior, personality and health correlates. We applied three different clustering techniques, latent profile analysis, the k-means method and spectral clustering algorithms. The resulting cluster centers, i.e. the personality prototypes, were evaluated using a large number of internal and external validity criteria including health, locus of control, self-esteem, impulsivity, risk-taking and wellbeing. The best-fitting prototypical personality profiles were labeled according to their Euclidean distances to averaged personality type profiles identified in a review of previous studies on personality types. This procedure yielded a five-cluster solution: resilient, overcontroller, undercontroller, reserved and vulnerable-resilient. Reliability and construct validity could be confirmed. We discuss wether personality types could comprise a bridge between personality and clinical psychology as well as between developmental psychology and resilience research

Towards a theory of natural occupation: developing theoretical, methodological and empirical support for the relation between plot systems and urban processes

Plot systems (or ‘plots’, ‘lots’, ‘parcels’, ‘land divisions’) is a commonly recognised structural component of urban form along with streets and buildings. They play a critical role in understanding urban processes in cities, not least of all because they link directly between the physical world and institutions, such as property rights.The role of plots and plot systems in urban processes is addressed in this thesis as the theory of natural occupation. The theory argues that the structure of plot systems is the driver of a process of economic concentration and diversification of economic activity in cities, as described in the burgage cycle concept (temporal evolution of built form) and the spatial capacity concept (link between plot shape and urban diversity).However, plot systems remain the least studied component of urban form, which this thesis contributes to on two levels. Firstly, by developing more precise quantitative descriptions of plots and plot systems by way of morphological measures and plot types. Secondly, by making use of these descriptions and empirically testing some central ideas in urban morphology, such as urban diversity. The thesis thus contributes to methodological and theoretical development in the field of urban morphology. However, it also demonstrates how these ideas on urban morphology can be a central contribution to theories in other fields addressing urban processes, such as urban planning and especially urban economics.\ua0The research design of the thesis involves the development of a generic method to spatially represent plot systems, the identification of three key morphological variables of plots based on extensive literature review in the field of urban morphology, the development of analytical plot types using statistical methods of data-driven classifications and finally, empirical testing of the theory of natural occupation (by correlating the morphological variables and plot types with the concentration and diversification of economic activity in five European cities).\ua0The empirical studies provide support for a direct relation between the shape and structure of plot systems and economic processes in cities and are an important contribution to urban design and planning practice