Categories and dimensions

TL;DRAbstract

In psychology it is rather common to use categories, for example psychiatric categories. An important question is whether what is considered to be a category is really categorical and not just dimensional. This issue is approached in two ways: with a broadly used method that is called taxometrics, and with a new method that is called DIMCAT. Taxometrics is a common term for several analysis techniques of which MAXCOV (MAXimum COVariance) was the first and most frequently used. In the case of a taxonic structure the covariance of two indicators along the sections of a third indicator reaches its maximum value in the section where the proportion of taxon and non-taxon group members is equal. If the structure is dimensional, the covariance of two indicators will be about equal along the sections of a third indicator. DIMCAT is based on item response modeling (IRT). In DIMCAT distinctions are made along two axes, which are as follows: the first differentiates between-category qualitative d

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