Introduction to Optimal Scaling Procedures for Categorical Data

Categories procedures use optimal scaling to analyze data that are difficult or impossible for standard statistical procedures to analyze. This chapter describes what each procedure does, the situations in which each procedure is most appropriate, the relationships between the procedures, and the relationships of these procedures to their standard statistical counterparts.

Note: These procedures and their implementation in IBM® SPSS® Statistics were developed by the Data Theory Scaling System Group (DTSS), consisting of members of the departments of Education and Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University.