Structural Modeling by Example

Structural Modeling by Example offers a comprehensive overview of the application of structural equation models in the social and behavioural sciences and in educational research. It is devoted in roughly equal proportions to substantive issues and to methodological ones. The substantive section comprises case studies of the use of these models in a number of disciplines. The authors emphasize the reasons for modeling by these methods, the processes involved in defining the model, and the interpretation of the results. Each substantive chapter includes an exemplary data set and formal model construction of give readers practice in setting up the models and interpreting the results. The methodological section comprises investigations of the behaviour of structural equation modeling methods under a number of conditions. The aim is to clarify the situations in which these methods can usefully be applied and the interpretations that can be made. Introductory and concluding chapters relate structural equation models to the mainstream statistical methods, regression and factor analysis, of which they are a synthesis and generalization, and place in perspective the current status, scope, and limitations of these models with reference to other methodological studies.