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The goodness-of-fit of the unidimensional monotone latent variable model can be assessed using the empirical conditions of nonnegative correlations (Mokken in A theory and procedure of scale-analysis, Mouton, The Hague, 1971), manifest monotonicity (Junker in Ann Stat 21:1359–1378, 1993), multivariate total positivity of order 2 (Bartolucci and Forcina in Ann Stat 28:1206–1218, 2000), and nonnegative partial correlations (Ellis in Psychometrika 79:303–316, 2014). We show that multidimensional monotone factor models with independent factors also imply these empirical conditions; therefore, the conditions are insensitive to multidimensionality. Conditional association (Rosenbaum in Psychometrika 49(3):425–435, 1984) can detect multidimensionality, but tests of it (De Gooijer and Yuan in Comput Stat Data Anal 55:34–44, 2011) are usually not feasible for realistic numbers of items. The only existing feasible test procedures that can reveal multidimensionality are Rosenbaum's (Psychometrika 49(3):425–435, 1984) Case 2 and Case 5, which test the covariance of two items or two subtests conditionally on the unweighted sum of the other items. We improve this procedure by conditioning on a weighted sum of the other items. The weights are estimated in a training sample from a linear regression analysis. Simulations show that the Type I error rate is under control and that, for large samples, the power is higher if one dimension is more important than the other or if there is a third dimension. In small samples and with two equally important dimensions, using the unweighted sum yields greater power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study applies the fuzzy approach to measuring material deprivation from a multidimensional perspective. By taking into account the intensity of deprivation this approach goes beyond the conventional research using the deprived/non-deprived dichotomy. The study is based on the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data including a set of nine-item material deprivation indicators adopted by all European Union countries. In order to examine the effects of social reforms introduced by the Polish government in 2016, it focuses on the situation of Polish households in 2015 and 2017. The study aims to identify correlates of material deprivation in Poland using the zero-inflated beta regression model. This model enables to understand the mechanisms behind the risk and the intensity of material deprivation. Moreover, the study provides evidence that households with at least three children experienced meaningful improvement during the studied period. This is probably due to the introduction of the 'Family 500+' programme supporting mainly large families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy indicators rarely account for the contribution of societal inter- and intra-personal interactions to economic development. We propose an index of multidimensional Human Recognition Deprivation (HRD), which measures to what extent individuals (e.g., women) are viewed and valued as human beings. Based on Castleman's Theory of Human Recognition and Economic Development, we employ the Alkire-Foster method of multidimensional poverty counting to construct a HRD index. The Index is based on indicators of humiliation, dehumanization, violence, and lack of autonomy within three domains of interaction namely: the self, household, and community domains. Similar to multidimensional poverty, we extract the deprivation headcount ratio, deprivation intensity, and the overall deprivation index. The Alkire-Foster method allows us to identify human recognition deprivation within and across domains of interaction. The methodology has a range of robust properties including decomposing by domains and sub-groups (e.g., female farmers and off-farm women). As a policy tool, it allows policy investigators to set different domain cut-offs and weights to identify crucial policy fields and populations for intervention. We develop the index for women using data from Malawi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, child growth monitoring has been performed by measuring anthropometric indicators and comparing them against universal standards. Since the 1970s various efforts have been made to expand the focus from anthropometric indicators and include broader contextual and structural factors that influence children's growth. However, those efforts have so far not led to changes in the dimensions that are taken into account in child growth monitoring. In this paper we introduce the Capability Approach asan evaluative framework for growth monitoring of children under five years old. Applying the CA helps focusing on what children are able to achieve by analyzing their available resources (endowments), as well as the mechanisms that could enhance or restrict their access to those resources (conversion factors). In addition, children's growth could be assessed alongside the caregivers' capabilities that children rely on to achieve their full growth potential. We present a child growth evaluation framework as well as a matrix, which has different categories of dimensions that interact with each other and ultimately shape children's growth. The framework is a flexible tool, and is thus broad enough to accommodate contextual differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the present paper are to explore how traditional gender roles (focusing mainly on attitudes towards the division of labour between men and women) relate to social cohesion and to examine whether this relationship differs among men and women. The multi-dimensional concept of social cohesion is measured by two general components: a behavioural dimension (consisting of civic and political participation and the intensity of non-kin social relations) and an attitudinal dimension (institutional trust and solidarity). The analysis, based on the data of the European Values Study from Luxembourg, reveals that being more traditional is related to higher attitudinal cohesion: i.e. higher institutional trust and solidarity. Conversely, traditional attitudes are associated with less cohesive behaviour, namely with a lower intensity of non-kin social relations and political participation. Tradition-oriented women show significantly lower levels of political participation than their male counterparts, whereas traditional men tend to demonstrate less solidarity than women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this note is twofold: (a) to present the formula for the item information function (IIF) in any direction for the Multidimensional 3-Parameter Logistic (M3-PL) model and (b) to give the equation for the location of maximum item information (θmax) in the direction of the item discrimination vector. Several corollaries are given. Implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the multidimensional measurement as a transparent and easy-to-interpret method to measure poverty, where poverty is measured with a set of direct and indirect poverty indicators side-by-side. Multidimensional measurement is formalised and compared to the traditional, one-dimensional measurement. This formalisation is based on the idea about a set of indicators that are measuring different manifestations of the same latent variable. The Latent Class Model (LCM) is proposed as a method to select a valid and reliable set of poverty indicators for multidimensional measurement. The LCM is used to test if these different poverty indicators really measure the same latent referent - an assumption on which the multidimensional measurement is based. Before this method presented here, constructing and selecting indicators for the multidimensional measurement of poverty has relied practically on theory and substance only. Naturally, the method presented here can be used generally for studying and developing multidimensional measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]