Latent class procedures: applications to organizational research

In this overview, the authors use the seven studies included in the feature topic as a platform to delineate three areas that latent class procedures are particularly useful for in advancing the field of organizational research. The first topic area focuses on dealing with the need to identify and understand unobserved subpopulations in organizational research. The second topic area focuses on recognizing the unobserved heterogeneity in measurement functioning. The third topic area focuses on addressing the challenges surrounding the existence of multiple longitudinal change (both quantitative and qualitative) patterns in organizational research. The authors conclude this overview by highlighting further thoughts on the ways that latent class procedures should be utilized to advance organizational research.