Hwan Chung, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Michigan State University
Department of Epidemiology
B601 West Fee Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824

Tel.: 1.517.353.8623
Fax: 1.517.432.1130

My research interests pertain to latent variable modelings - in particular, the finite mixtures for categorical data.

Many quantities of interest in social or behavioral sciences are unobservable but well-conceived characteristics such as attitudes, temperament, psychological diagnoses, and health behaviors. Such constructs can be measured indirectly by using multiple items as indicators of the unobservable characteristics. The latent class (LC) model can classify individuals into population subgroups based on these unobservable characteristics, by using proxy responses that are related to those characteristics. Latent transition (LT) models extend this idea to longitudinal settings by allowing subjects to change their latent statuses over time. My current research focuses on the development of computational algorithms and the application of LC and LT models in prevention science.