Profile Analysis in the Search for Structure Underlying Role Expectations

Beginning with a brief review of the properties of profiles, alternative methods of profile analysis for studying the similarity of individual and group profiles in role analysis are discussed, proceeding from the simple-Jackson's method for studying the structural properties of norms-to the more complex-the factor analysis of cross-products matrices of raw scores as a technique for clustering profiles. The relationship of cross-products analysis to Cronbach and Gleser's distance measure D and to Q-technique factor analysis is examined, and a special case of cross-products analysis is illustrated with an example drawn from its use in actual research.