Performance Modeling That Integrates Latent Trait and Class Theory

The qualitative characterization of individual performance that is central to modem psychological theory is not adequately modeled by traditional psychometric theory that assumes, among other things, unidimensionality. In the present study, data are presented that are more adequately modeled by HYBRID, a model that incorporates both latent trait and latent class components. The latent classes were defined by a cognitive analysis of the understanding that individuals have for a circumscribed domain. In addition to providing a better statistical fit, the analysis also improves the amount of diagnostic information available for a given individual.     

Social Capital in a Community Context: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual- and Community-Level Predictors of Social Trust

The community structural pluralism model represents the earliest and most enduring research program to conceptualize media effects within a community context. The model, which has intellectual roots in social theory concerned with the impact of population size and density on human interaction, is relevant to the resurgence of interest in multilevel analysis in media research, particularly research regarding the media effects on indicators of social capital such as social trust. The present study uses multilevel modeling to test the linear development model (Berry & Kasarda, 1977 Berry , B. , & Kasarda , J. ( 1977 ). Contemporary urban ecology . New York , NY : Macmillan . [Google Scholar]) which predicts that community structural pluralism would be negatively associated with individual-level social trust, even while controlling for individual-level predictors including media use and length of residence. Using survey data from 21 communities included in the 2001 Social Capital Community Benchmark Study, the analysis includes a rigorous test of the community structural pluralism model by determining whether the relationship between media use and social trust varies across communities. In support of the linear development model, community structural pluralism was negatively associated with social trust even while controlling for individual-level predictors. Additional findings that challenge traditional assumptions about the role of social trust in political participation are discussed.     

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