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| LPA: Cluster Size Minimum? |
 
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| Mary Edmond posted on Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 1:57 pm
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| In terms of validity, how small is too small for a cluster? I am proforming a LPA on 3 different samples, which have an N of about 500, 300, and 250 respectivley. Some of by clusters are very small, less than 10 percent of the total sample. Is that an acceptable size? The Bics indicate a well fitting model, but does anyone know of a rule of thumb or a test of validity concerning this issue? Thank you!! |
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| I think you are asking about the size of classes found in an LPA. I don't know of any minimum class size. There are several things to consider. Is the class meaningful? Is the class well-defined from other classes? Does it have different predictors and relate differently to distal outcome(s)? Does the class have more observations than parameters being estimated for that class? |
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Thank you so much for the response! I had also received two articles that were helpful to me: (Marsh, Lüdtke, Trautwein & Morin 2009) and (Wade, Crosby, & Martin 2006). These articles seem to give similar advice as you have given. I appreciate your input very much!
Mary |
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