Confirmatory Factor Analysis For Applied Research

This accessible book has established itself as the go-to resource on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for its emphasis on practical and conceptual aspects rather than mathematics or formulas. Detailed, worked-through examples drawn from psychology, management, and sociology studies illustrate the procedures, pitfalls, and extensions of CFA methodology. The text shows how to formulate, program, and interpret CFA models using popular latent variable software packages (LISREL, Mplus, EQS, SAS/CALIS); understand the similarities ...

This accessible book has established itself as the go-to resource on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for its emphasis on practical and conceptual aspects rather than mathematics or formulas. Detailed, worked-through examples drawn from psychology, management, and sociology studies illustrate the procedures, pitfalls, and extensions of CFA methodology. The text shows how to formulate, program, and interpret CFA models using popular latent variable software packages (LISREL, Mplus, EQS, SAS/CALIS); understand the similarities ...

This user-friendly guide illustrates how to assess measurement invariance using computer programs, statistical methods, and real data.

Measurement connects theoretical concepts to what is observable in the empirical world, and is fundamental to all social and behavioral research. In this volume, J. Micah Roos and Shawn Bauldry introduce a popular approach to measurement: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). As the authors explain, CFA is a theoretically informed statistical framework for linking multiple observed variables to latent variables that are not directly measurable. The authors begin by defining terms, introducing notation, and illustrating a wide variety of measurement models with different relationships between latent and observed variables. They proceed to a thorough treatment of model estimation, followed by a discussion of model fit. Most of the volume focuses on measures that approximate continuous variables, but the authors also devote a chapter to categorical indicators. Each chapter develops a different example (sometimes two) covering topics as diverse as racist attitudes, theological conservatism, leadership qualities, psychological distress, self-efficacy, beliefs about democracy, and Christian nationalism drawn mainly from national surveys. Data to replicate the examples are available on a companion website, along with code for R, Stata, and Mplus.

Emphasizing practical and theoretical aspects of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) rather than mathematics or formulas, Timothy A. Brown uses rich examples derived from the psychology, management, and sociology literatures to provide in-depth treatment of the concepts, procedures, pitfalls, and extensions of CFA methodology. Chock full of useful advice and tables that outline the procedures, the text shows readers how to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and understand similarities to and differences from CFA; formulate, program, and interpret CFA models using popular latent variable software packages such as LISREL, Mplus, Amos, EQS, and SAS/CALIS; and report results from a CFA study. Also covered are extensions of CFA to traditional IRT analysis, methods for determining necessary sample sizes, and new CFA modeling possibilities, including multilevel factor models and factor mixture models. Special features include a Web page offering data and program syntax files for many of the research examples so that readers can practice the procedures described in the book with real data. The Web page also includes links to additional CFA-related resources.

This is a concise, easy to use, step-by-step guide for applied researchers conducting exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using the open source software R. In this book, Dr. Watkins systematically reviews each decision step in EFA with screen shots of R and RStudio code, and recommends evidence-based best practice procedures. This is an eminently applied, practical approach with few or no formulas and is aimed at readers with little to no mathematical background. Dr. Watkins maintains an accessible tone throughout and uses minimal jargon and formula to help facilitate grasp of the key issues users will face while applying EFA, along with how to implement, interpret, and report results. Copious scholarly references and quotations are included to support the reader in responding to editorial reviews. This is a valuable resource for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as for more experienced researchers undertaking multivariate or structure equation modeling courses across the behavioral, medical, and social sciences.

Multivariate statistics and mathematical models provide flexible and powerful tools essential in most disciplines. Nevertheless, many practicing researchers lack an adequate knowledge of these techniques, or did once know the techniques, but have not been able to keep abreast of new developments. The Handbook of Applied Multivariate Statistics and Mathematical Modeling explains the appropriate uses of multivariate procedures and mathematical modeling techniques, and prescribe practices that enable applied researchers to use these procedures effectively without needing to concern themselves with the mathematical basis. The Handbook emphasizes using models and statistics as tools. The objective of the book is to inform readers about which tool to use to accomplish which task. Each chapter begins with a discussion of what kinds of questions a particular technique can and cannot answer. As multivariate statistics and modeling techniques are useful across disciplines, these examples include issues of concern in biological and social sciences as well as the humanities.

"This accessible volume presents both the mechanics of structural equation modeling (SEM) and specific SEM strategies and applications. The editor, along with an international group of contributors, and editorial advisory board are leading methodologists who have organized the book to move from simpler material to more statistically complex modeling approaches. Sections cover the foundations of SEM; statistical underpinnings, from assumptions to model modifications; steps in implementation, from data preparation through writing the SEM report; and basic and advanced applications, including new and emerging topics in SEM. Each chapter provides conceptually oriented descriptions, fully explicated analyses, and engaging examples that reveal modeling possibilities for use with readers' data. Many of the chapters also include access to data and syntax files at the companion website, allowing readers to try their hands at reproducing the authors' results"--