title: Performing DISCO-SCA to search for distinctive and common information in linked data.
abstract: Behavioral researchers often obtain information about the same set of entities from different sources. A main challenge in the analysis of such data is to reveal, on the one hand, the mechanisms underlying all of the data blocks under study and, on the other hand, the mechanisms underlying a single data block or a few such blocks only (i.e., common and distinctive mechanisms, respectively). A method called DISCO-SCA has been proposed by which such mechanisms can be found. The goal of this article is to make the DISCO-SCA method more accessible, in particular for applied researchers. To this end, first we will illustrate the different steps in a DISCO-SCA analysis, with data stemming from the domain of psychiatric diagnosis. Second, we will present in this article the DISCO-SCA graphical user interface (GUI). The main benefits of the DISCO-SCA GUI are that it is easy to use, strongly facilitates the choice of model selection parameters (such as the number of mechanisms and their status as being common or distinctive), and is freely available.
authors.affiliation: Research Group Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, bus 3713, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Martijn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schouteden
authors.forename: Katrijn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Deun
authors.forename: Tom F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wilderjans
authors.forename: Iven
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Mechelen
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D035841:Behavioral Research / Q000379:methods*; D003196:Computer Graphics; D003625:Data Collection; D003626:Data Display; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012107:Research Design; D012984:Software; D012985:Software Design; D014584:User-Computer Interface