Akaike's information criterion is suggested as a tool for evaluating fit and dimensionality in metric multidimensional scaling that uses least squares methods of estimation. This criterion combines the least squares loss function with the number of estimated parameters. Numerical examples are presented. The results from analyses of both simulation…

This study examines the baseline change profiles of academic performance (math and English) trajectories during the high school transition for the students who went from middle school to high school. Using multidimensional scaling growth profile analysis, we identified a no-change group plus 4 other groups with different change profile types: 1…

Outlines an exploratory multidimensional scaling-based approach to profile analysis called Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) (M. Davison, 1994). The PAMS model has the advantages of being applied to samples of any size easily, classifying persons on a continuum, and using person profile index for further hypothesis studies, but…

Many statistical models have been used to study human development. The multidimensional scaling (MDS) method has been an under-utilised technique in psychological and educational research for studying such phenomena. In this paper, MDS profile analysis was used to examine adolescent mood change patterns over a 1-week period. This method is used to…

Latent growth curve modeling provides a powerful and flexible tool for researchers to study individual differences in change as well as the correlates and predictors of change. Recent developments in estimation and hypothesis testing procedures are largely based on confirmatory structural equation approaches. In this article, an alternative…