This book sticks out like a beautiful flower in a bed of weeds.
There is a dearth of really good books available to sociologists interested in deepening their knowledge of statistics in general, and structural equation modelling in particular. Most of the books I encounter are either too simple or too difficult. There is either too little, or too much detail. I suppose that in general writers cater to two types of statistics users: the statisticians, and those applied users who prefer the "black box" approach in running their regressions. A good example of a bad statistics books for sociologists: the often-cited econometrics textbooks that read like dictionaries by providing lists of formulas rather than integrating knowledge by carefully explaining general concepts.
And then there is Bollen's 1989 SEM book. Almost a class by itself. He achieves a balance between comprehensiveness and comprehensibility ideal for the sociologist. Bollen excels at the task of explaining statistics. If someone is thinking of taking a first class in SEM, I would recommend getting a copy of the syllabus. If the syllabus doesn't include this book, I would recommend that the person consider dropping the class and reading this book if at all possible.
Someone needs to convince Bollen to write books about every statistics topic he has mastered, and then to learn other topics and write books on those. Bollen is a resource that should not be missed.
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