EQS 6.1 - Structural Equation Modeling Made Easy.

EQS for Windows is one of the most widely used Structural Equation Modeling programs, known for its ease of use and powerful features. Users can draw a path diagram using EQS' drawing tool to create your model, and use the most advanced statistics to correctly treat non-normal data. EQS for Windows features friendly data handling and statistical preprocessing.

Mon. - Fri., 9.00am - 5.00pm

Prerequisites: Participants must have completed an introductory course in statistics or have had equivalent experience. Familiarity with multiple regression and factor analysis techniques is highly desirable, as is experience with a statistical data analysis package on a PC or Macintosh computer. However, it is assumed that participants taking this course have had little or no experience with Structural Equation Modeling programs such as LISREL, EQS, or AMOS.

Course outline: The course in designed as an introductory, applied course in the use of structural equation modelling (SEM) using the LISREL 8.5 program. Structural equation modelling is used widely by researchers in a diverse range of fields (including business and management, economics, epidemiology, education, marketing, nursing and health sciences, political science, psychology, sociology, sports management and leisure studies, and tourism) where it is used to find and test complex relationships amongst observed (measured) variables and latent (unobserved) variables, and amongst the latent variables themselves. Structural equation modelling subsumes other analytical techniques such as regression, path analysis, factor analysis, and canonical correlation.

The course is divided into two parts. Part 1 begins with and introduction to SEM covering topics such as the advantages of SEM over conventional analytical techniques, the fundamentals underlying SEM, the use of path diagrams and SEM notation. This is accompanied by an introduction to the use of LISREL 8.5 - the software package used in this course to estimate structural relationships. Part II of the course looks at the three types of structural equation models, namely: structural models for directly observed variables, measurement models and confirmatory factor analysis, and structural models with latent variables.

Throughout the course a number of issues related to fitting structural equation models will be addressed. These include: model specification, identification and estimation; assessing model fit (goodness-of-fit criteria, reliability and validity estimates); and dealing with problem data and difficult models (including missing data, small samples, ordinal and/or dichotomous variables, non-normal data, constraining parameters, non-positive definite matrices, negative error variances, unidentified and inadmissible models, recognising equivalent models, and testing mediating versus moderating hypotheses).

Participants will be provided with instruction and practical experience in the use of LISREL 8.5 to estimate parameters implied by the various types of structural equation models. Detailed notes with worked examples and references will be provided as a basis for both the lecture and hands-on computing aspects of the course. Note that AMOS may be demonstrated. However, course instruction and exercises will primarily be in LISREL 8.5.

Furthermore, participants will be given an opportunity on the final day of the course to commence some analysis of their own data. Participants are encouraged to bring a data set with them, although this is not essential since other data sets will be made available. Participants wishing to bring their own data should bring it in one of the following formats: an SPSS(*.sav) file; a text file (either fixed-width or delimited); an EXCEL (*.xls) file; or an Acess (*.mdb) file.

Course pre-reading (recommended but not essential):

• Schumacker, R.E., and R.G. Lomax, A Beginners Guide to Structural Equation Modeling, Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996. (Chapters 1-4 only).
• Kelloway, Kevin E., Using LISREL for structural equation modelling: A researcher's guide, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998.

• Bollen, Kenneth.A.and J. S. Long, Testing Structural Equation Models, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1993.
• Hoyle, R.H., ed., Structural Equation Modeling: Concepts, Issues and Applications, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1995.
• Kline, R.B., Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modelling, New York: Guilford Press, 1998.
• Maruyama, G., Basics of Structural Equation Modeling, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998.

• Jöreskog, K.G. and D. Sörbom, LISREL 8: User's Reference Guide, Chicag Scientific Software International, 1996.

To download lecture outlines, click on the "Outlines" box below. Note: the lecture outline files are in Microsoft Word 6.0 format. You will need to download the file and then open it with your word processor to view / print.

To download Worksheets / Assignments, click on the "Assignments" Box. To download Handouts, click on the "Handouts" Box.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! I will mail your papers back to you via campus mail. Enjoy your break!

I have listed the order of presentations for your final projects on the Assignments page. Please check that to make sure you know what day you are expected to present. You are required to present on the day for which you are assigned.

Questions? Contact Dr. DiLalla

MK 9200 AT SEM: Advanced Topics