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Latent Class Analysis - Online Course

A 3-Day Livestream Seminar Taught by

Stephanie Lanza and Bethany Bray ,
Course Dates:

Thursday, March 20 –
Saturday, March 22, 2025

Schedule: All sessions are held live via Zoom. All times are ET (New York time).

10:00am-12:30pm (convert to your local time)
1:30pm-3:30pm

Watch Sample Video

Latent Class Analysis (LCA) provides empirical researchers in the social, behavioral, and health sciences with a critical lens through which to inspect their data. This method has the ability to uncover hidden structures and patterns related to complex phenomena. For example, LCA enables social scientists to discover subgroups within a population that share similar patterns of behaviors or attitudes. Researchers also can gain a more nuanced understanding of human behavior by using LCA to characterize patterns of intersecting behaviors that confer a high risk of adverse outcomes.

LCA can be viewed as a special kind of structural equation modeling in which the latent variables are categorical rather than continuous. This seminar will give you the theoretical background and applied skills to address interesting research questions using LCA. Topics include model identification, model selection, model interpretation, multiple-groups LCA, measurement invariance across groups, LCA with covariates and outcomes, and latent profile analysis (LPA). The format will combine lectures, software demonstrations, computer exercises, and discussion. There will be opportunities to discuss how LCA can be applied in your own research.

Using LCA to gain new insight into how different components interact and influence outcomes, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of phenomena under investigation. Applying this technique to empirical data can inform theory, contribute to evidence-based decision-making, and guide development of interventions tailored to specific subgroups within a population. Ultimately, LCA empowers empirical researchers in the social, behavioral, and health sciences to extract new insights from their data and contribute innovative findings that advance science.

Starting March 20, we are offering this seminar as a 3-day synchronous*, livestream workshop held via the free video-conferencing software Zoom. Each day will consist of two lecture sessions which include hands-on exercises, separated by a 1-hour break. You are encouraged to join the lecture live, but will have the opportunity to view the recorded session later in the day if you are unable to attend at the scheduled time.

*We understand that finding time to participate in livestream courses can be difficult. If you prefer, you may take all or part of the course asynchronously. The video recordings will be made available within 24 hours of each session and will be accessible for four weeks after the seminar, meaning that you will get all of the class content and discussions even if you cannot participate synchronously. 

Closed captioning is available for all live and recorded sessions. Captions can be translated to a variety of languages including Spanish, Korean, and Italian. For more information, click here.

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"The instructors are clever, skilled, and invested in what they do.”

“I highly recommend this course! I am new to these concepts (as a clinician) and was able to follow the material and learn from the instructors. The foundational concepts were presented in a very clear manner. The instructors are clever, skilled, and invested in what they do.”

Laura Avila

University of Toronto

“I really liked how Dr. Lanza and Dr. Bray explained the fundamental concepts of latent class analysis..."

“I really liked how Dr. Lanza and Dr. Bray explained the fundamental concepts of latent class analysis and used real-world examples to help the audience better understand the methodology.”

Kaustuv Bhattacharya

University of Mississippi

"...I am confident that I can apply these analyses in my own research immediately."

This was a truly helpful and amazing course. The instructors expertly presented the nuts and bolts of running the analyses within the context of real-world examples. As a result of attending this course, I am confident that I can apply these analyses in my own research immediately. 

Jennifer Belding

Naval Health Research Center

"...I learned numerous things that will certainly help me in my research..."

“The course is well organized. The lecturers have structured the activities to make them highly interactive. They also promoted interventions, questions, and reflections. The content is appropriate for those who are beginning in the study of LCA and do not need to have advanced knowledge in statistics or in the use of software.

It was an intense and enjoyable three days in which I learned numerous things that will certainly help me in my research. I totally recommend this course! Thank you.” 

Igor Portoghese

University of Cagliari

"Both Stephanie Lanza and Bethany Bray presented all of the complex topics in a way that was easy to follow..."

“The course was very well organized! From lecture materials to the slides, and from the presentations to time management. Both Stephanie Lanza and Bethany Bray presented all of the complex topics in a way that was easy to follow, even for those who were new to latent class analysis. They were also very responsive to all our questions and queries. It was great that they also provided all syntaxes for STATA, SAS, and MPlus. Both instructors are very well-known for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of latent class analysis.” 

MD Kamrul Islam

Statistics Canada

“Stephanie and Bethany are excellent at breaking down these topics and making them digestible..."

“Stephanie and Bethany are excellent at breaking down these topics and making them digestible, particularly related to model selection and identification. The provided exercises were relevant and applicable, and I really appreciated inclusion of the code and exercise solutions. They gave great examples on how to use this method in a number of different content areas. Bethany’s example of using LCA for ADLs almost made me want to go back and add a paper to my dissertation. Almost. Thanks for a great course!” 

Caitlin Burbank

OHSU

"...I look forward to applying these methods to my research."

“This has been an excellent introduction to latent class analysis. Dr. Lanza and Bray are extremely knowledgeable and effective teachers. They appropriately covered basic concepts and linked them to more complex statistical approaches. I also benefited from the hands-on learning by practicing analyses with the statistical software. I look forward to applying these methods to my research.”

Kaylee Crockett

University of Alabama at Birmingham

"This course was great for all levels of expertise."

“There was a very nice balance between application and interpretation, the Mplus programming, and the math behind it. I liked that the instructors curated an environment where it was easy to ask questions without feeling stupid. This course was great for all levels of expertise. There was also a nice balance between lecturing and creating room for questions, both about the class itself and your own research. Great intuitive examples.”

Anne den Uil

Hogeschool van Amsterdam