In statistics, the ratio of two likelihoods, particularly that of a likelihood function to the maximum likelihood. Widely used as a test statistic, especially for examining relationships among categorical variables arranged in a contingency table. In goodness-of-fit modelling, the smaller the LR, the stronger the relationship, because in using it in this way we attempt …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Ligands
Messenger biomolecules or ‘keys’ (e.g., hormones, neuropeptides, neurotransmiitters) that bind specifically and reversibly to receptors or ‘locks’ (e.g., proteins) to form a larger complex, and thereby induce a signal in a cell (thus sometimes referred to as a ‘signal triggering molecule’). In a sense, they ‘float’ around in the bloodstream and in the extracellular fluid …
Likelihood function
Evidence in favorof the different values of a variable that is provided by observed data that isa function of that variable. If μ isa variable in a probabilistic model, and x isdata that is a function of, the likelihood function over condition on x isany function that is proportional to P(x|μ). See Likelihood function, Prior distribution
Life course analysis
Analysis using as its framework key tenets of a life course perspective that: 1. individuals are agents who make choices within social constraints, 2. these choices have emerging consequences for themselves and for those whose lives are linked with theirs, and 3. both historical context and developmental age must be taken into account in understanding individual …
Life sciences
Those branches of science dealing with the structure and function of living organisms. Not strictly speaking synonymous with biology as they can include psychology. See Biology, Levelism, Psychology
Levels of organization
A somewhat arbitrary classification that arranges and associates disciplines with particular levels along a hierarchy from ‘simple’ to more ‘complex’ systems. The levels themselves are meant to represent boundaries between the different disciplines and systems. Sometimes used synonymously with levels of analysis. Associated with either is the ecological fallacy. See Biogenetic process, Bridge law (or …
Levels of development
in Kurt Fischer’s neo-Piagetian skill theory, an indication of the degree of hierarchical integration of a cognitive skill. According to the theory, there are four levels of hierarchical integration within each of four broad tiers of development. The levels correspond to single sets, mappings, systems and systems of systems. Each higher level emerges as an …
Levels of analysis
The analysis and interpretation of behavioral and social phenomena at various levels (individual, organisational, cultural, ecological), without reduction to explanation at a less inclusive level. See Bridge law (or principle), Bridging, Biogenetic processes, Downward causation (or macrocausation), Ecological fallacy, Explanation, Hierarchy, Levelism, Levels of development, Levels of organization, Reductionism
Levelism
A neologism to denote a penchant, particularly in the life sciences, for depicting the relevant disciplines as being ordered in a hierarchy of levels of organizations from the most ‘simple’ to most the ‘complex’, usually to evoke an anti-reductionist stance and in defence of emergence, or one espousing reductionism of all levels to the lowest one …
Learning disability
Sometimes treated as being synonymous with as mental retardation, and thus defined as an intellectual impairment (IQ<70) leading to functional disability. More generally, it is an individual’s inability to either interpret what is perceived, or to integrate information across modalities. Such limitations can be expressed in various ways (e.g., as specific difficulties with spoken and/or …