Searching for ideal types: the potentialities of latent class analysis

Typologies play an important role in sociological theory and research. Basic to the use of (ideal) types is the notion that a subject's overt behavior can be conceived of as governed by his/her belonging or closeness to a particular underlying pure type. Many statistical techniques are in use to detect or construct these fundamental types, especially factor analysis. Much less attention has been paid to the possibilities that latent class analysis has to offer. Through an elaborate example, it is shown that the basic ideas of latent class analysis correspond eminently well with the use social scientists make of (ideal) types. Several important extensions of the basic latent class model along with significant new developments are discussed.