Latent Profile Analysis
A Methodological Tool for the Study of Social Representations
Palavras-chave:
Latent Profile Analysis, Social Representations, Social Groups, Methodology, Willem DoiseResumo
The analysis of collectives is an important aspect of the theory of social representations. However, despite its importance, a variety of perspectives on what constitutes a social group can be observed within the theory. This challenge manifests itself methodologically in the prior selection of groups by the researcher, thus making it difficult to confirm that the members of a particular collective share a common representation and symbolic field. This article sought to present a methodological possibility which uses the definition of groups a posteriori, based on the criterion of similar units of thought: Latent Profile Analysis (LPA). LPA is a type of factor analysis that aims to identify types of responses and subgroups among a given sample. It was argued that the methodological assumptions of LPA are correlated with the theoretical bases of social representations, especially with the non-consensual approach developed by Willem Doise. The article aimed to demonstrate the convergence between LPA and the three dimensions of social representations proposed by Doise: the common field, the variations in position-taking and the anchoring of individual differentiations. Lastly, an empirical application of this methodology in the field of social representations was presented, taking as an example the social representations of Brazilian history. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of new methodologies aimed at analyzing the dissonant aspects of social representations, as well as the role of social insertions in representational dynamics and positioning-taking.
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