Structural equation modeling: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:20, 3 May 2024

Revision as of 21:01, 15 May 2024

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SEM researchers use computer programs to estimate the strength and sign of the coefficients corresponding to the modeled structural connections, for example the numbers connected to the arrows in Figure 1. Because a postulated model such as Figure 1 may not correspond to the worldly forces controlling the observed data measurements, the programs also provide model tests and diagnostic clues suggesting which indicators, or which model components, might introduce inconsistency between the model and observed data. Criticisms of SEM methods hint at: disregard of available model tests, problems in the model's specification, a tendency to accept models without considering external validity, and potential philosophical biases.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tarka |first1=Piotr |year=2017 |title=An overview of structural equation modeling: Its beginnings, historical development, usefulness and controversies in the social sciences |journal=Quality & Quantity |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=313–54 |doi=10.1007/s11135-017-0469-8 |pmc=5794813 |pmid=29416184}}</ref>

A great advantage of SEM is that all of these measurements and tests occur simultaneously in one statistical estimation procedure, where all the model coefficientcoefficients are calculated using all information from the observed variables. This means the estimates are more accurate than if a researcher were to calculate each part of the model separately.{{sfn|MacCallum|Austin|2000|p=209}}

== History ==