Statistical Methods-Analyzing Data On Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior: Structural Equation Modeling

Statistical Methods- Analyzing Data on
Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior:

Structural Equation Modeling
Mike W.-L. Cheung, PhD
Department of Psychology
National University of Singapore
Dec 2007
Last update: 13 April 2009
Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung
Objectives
What is this talk about?

Basic concepts in structural equation modeling
(SEM)
How SEM may be applied to address different
research questions
Graphical models without mathematics and
statistics
What is this talk not about?
The technical details of SEM
How to use SEM packages
Notation (1)
Observed variable
Unobserved or latent
variable
Direct path from a factor

onto an observed variable
F2
F1
Direct path from one

factor onto another factor
Notation (2)
V
Measurement error for

observed variable
Residual error or
disturbance for latent
factor
F2
F1
Covariance between
variables
Some models under SEM
Multiple regression
Path analysis
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
Structural equation model
Multiple-group SEM
Latent growth model
Multiple regression
Multiple regression is used to study the

effect of a set of independent variables (IVs)
on a dependent variable (DV).
A hypothetical example
Self-efficacy
-0.35**
Error
0.3**
0.1
Resources
-0.2*
Severity of
illness
0.4**
Quality
of life
-0.4**
R2=.63, p=.002
Properties of multiple regression
Fitting all IVs simultaneously

R2 represents the overall model fitness
Software: SPSS or SEM software
Limitations:
There is only one DV

It is difficult to address the psychological
process.
Path analysis
We are interested in the psychological

process among the variables
There may be more than 1 DV
There may be mediators
Path analysis is appropriate in these
situations
Our extended example

Barriers
Self-efficacy
Health promoting
behaviors
Severity of
illness
Resources
Quality of life
Acceptance
Severity of illness has both direct and indirect effects on

Quality of life.
We explain the process through the mediators.
10
Properties of path analysis
Fitting all IVs and DVs simultaneously

Decomposition of effects:
Software:
Direct, indirect and total

SPSS or SEM packages
Limitations:
For observed variables only

No latent variables
11
Age (W)
Place of birth (W)
Educational level (W)
Full-time work (W)
More than one time of
marriage (W)
Interest in sex (W)
Consulted medical
help before (W)
No. of children
Abortion history
Years of marriage
Family income
Age (H)
Place of birth (H)
Educational level (H)
Full-time work (H)
More than one time of
marriage (H)
Interest in sex (H)
Consulted medical
help before (W)
An application of path analysis

Cheung et al. (2008) examined data
from a Knowledge, Attitude and
Practice (KAP) survey of 1,124
Hong Kong Chinese couples on
marital sexual relationship.
Why path analysis was used here?
Dependent data from couples:
Frequency of sex at that
husbands (H) and wives (W);
month (W)
Three DVs.
Interest in sex X sexual
satisfaction (W)
General findings:
Interest in sex was the strongest
predictor in predicting sexual
satisfaction within marriage
Age of the husbands was
Sexual satisfaction (H)
significant.
Having full-time job of wives
12
was significant.
Sexual satisfaction (W)
Confirmatory factor analysis
Why latent variables are so important in

behavioral sciences?
Researchers are usually interested in the

abstract constructs, not the observed items. For
example, are you interested in the composite
scores or the latent scores of these variables?
Quality of life
Self-efficacy
Resources
Psychological constructs are measured with

error.
13
A hypothetical two-factor model
Quality
of life
Self-efficacy
v1
v2
v3
v4
E1
E2
E3
E4
14
Properties of a CFA model
We can study the reliability and construct

validity of the instrument with CFA
Limitation:
No causal directions among latent variables

are allowed
15
Structural equation modeling
SEM is a general modeling framework to

examine the relationship among a set of
latent and observed variables.
Many multivariate statistics are special
cases of it:
Regression
Path analysis
CFA
16
Our extended example again
Adapted from Stuifbergen, Seraphine and Roberts (2000, p. 128).

17
Publication trend of using different

research techniques
Before 1994: Tremblay and Gardner (1996)
18
1994-2001: Hershberger (2003)
19
Conceptual framework for data analysis
20
The process of doing an SEM

Forming hypotheses
Model fits the data
Data collection
Model specification
Model does not
fit the data
Model estimation
Theory:
a) There are two
factors for this
instrument;
b) Two items are
loaded in two
different
factors; and
c) The two factors
are correlated.
SEM:
Model evaluation
21
An application of SEM
Lau, Cheung and Ransdell (2008) were

interested in studying the relationship
between Body Perception (Body fat,
Appearance and Strength) and Self-esteem.
They proposed Global Physical Selfconcept as a mediator between Body
Perception and Self-esteem.
22
The proposed model for testing

Body Fat
Self-Esteem
Appearance
Global
Physical SelfConcept
Strength
Actual Body
Rating
Age
Ideal Body
Rating
Control variables: Age, and actual and ideal body ratings

Indirect effects via Global physical self-concept
Direct effects from Body fat, Appearance and Strength
23
Step 1: Measurement model (CFA)
The first step is to establish the

measurement properties of the instrument.
Why is this step important?
If the instrument is not measuring something

meaningful, the consequent analyses may be
meaningless or even misleading.
The instrument may be well validated in other
cultural groups but not in your sample (cultural
specific).
24
A 5 factor CFA model
Body fat
Appearance
Strength
Global phy
Self-concept
Self-esteem
v1
v5
v6
v10
v11
v15
v16
v20
v21
v27
e1
e5
e6
e10
e11
e15
e16
e20
e21
e27
25
Notes in fitting CFA (and SEM) models
Identification issues:
Latent variables do not have their own scales

because they are unobserved.
We have to fix their scales either by setting
their variances at 1.0 or by setting the path
loadings of one indicator at 1.0.
Three types of parameters:
Fixed parameters;
Free parameters; and
Constrained parameters
26
A two-factor model
*
1.0
Quality
of life
1.0
v1
Self
-efficacy
v2
1.0
v3
E1
*
1.0
*
v4
1.0
1.0
E2
E3
E4
27
How do we know that the proposed model

fits the data well?
Chi-square statistic: if the proposed model is

correct, the test statistic has a chi-square
distribution
Important notes:
We hope to observe a non-significant chi-square in

SEM because we do not want to reject our proposed
model;
We seldom rely on the chi-square statistic in
determining whether to reject the model or not.
28
Incremental fit indices:
Non-normed fit index (NNFI)

Comparative fit index (CFI)
They compare the improvement of the model to
a baseline model
The larger they are, the better the models are
Usually at least 0.90 (but see Lance, Butts, &
Michels, 2006).
29
Residual based indices:
When the model fits well, the residuals should be

small
Standardized root mean square residual (SRMR)
Perfect fit: 0 to poorest fit: 1

A well-fitted model: < .05
Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)
Close fit: < 0.05

Reasonable fit: 0.05-0.08
Inadequate fit: > 0.1
30
How to evaluate these indices?
We usually report the chi-square test statistic, some

incremental fit indices and some residual based
indices. For example,
The goodness-of-fit indices of our CFA: 2(884) =1,568,

p<.001; CFI=0.91 and RMSEA=0.073.
The fit is marginal.
Combinational rules suggested by Hu and Bentler

(1999):
NNFI or CFI > .95 and SRMR < .09 OR

RMSEA < .05
and SRMR < .06
31
Step 2: Full SEM
After showing that the measurement model

fits reasonably well, we may fit a full SEM.
32
Interpretations of the final model

Body Fat
.12
-.35**
Self-Esteem
.22**
Appearance
.38**
.26**
Strength
.45**
Global
Physical SelfConcept
-.08
.09
Age
.60**
.10
Actual Body
Rating
-.01
Ideal Body
Rating
2(1,090) =1,894, p<.001;

CFI=0.90 and RMSEA=0.071.
The fit is marginal.
The direct effects are still significant for Appearance and Strength,
but not for Body fat.
The control variables are not significant.
33
Multiple-group SEM
We may want to compare whether the

model is the same in different groups.
If the model is the same, it means that the
psychological process is the same.
Multiple-group SEM extends SEM to
several groups.
34
An application of multiple-group SEM
Lau, Cheung and Ransdell (2007) examined

whether a model on sport participation was the
same for children from Shanghai, China (N=188)
and Michigan, U.S.A. (N=177).
The central research question was whether the
process of sport participation was the same for
children in collective and individualistic societies
35
Path coefficients of the model

0.39
Task
Orientation
Ego
Orientation
RAI
0.36
0.06
(-0.22)
0.29
-0.02
Perceived Sport
Competence
0.29
0.39
(0.69)
0.18
Peers Sport
Influence
Sport
Identity
0.14
(0.45)
0.09
Sport
Participation
0.17
Gender
Constrained parameters:
Fix them equal for children in China and U.S.A.
Test the significance of this constraint:
If it is significant, they are different
If it is non-significant, they are the same
Values without and with brackets represent the path loadings for the
Chinese and the American samples, respectively.
36
Longitudinal vs. correlational studies
For example, Raudenbush (2001):

Cross-sectional studies:
(Weak) statistical power

Weak support on testing causal inferences
No practice effect
Longitudinal studies:
(Strong) statistical power

Strong support on testing casual inferences
Potential problems on practice effect
37
Latent growth model
Repeated measures ANOVA:

Patterns of change are the same for all individuals
Difficult to handle missing data
Only time-invariant covariates
Compound symmetry is assumed in the univariate approach
No latent variable
Latent growth modeling:
Patterns of change can be different for individuals
Easy to handle missing data
Time-invariant and time-varying covariates
Flexible covariance structure
Latent or observed
variables
Copyright
(c) 2009 by Mike Cheung
38
An application of latent growth model
Cheng and Cheung (2005) studied the

change of the psychological responses to the
outbreak of severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS).
They were interested in how Trait anxiety
and Coping flexibility (stable personalities)
might affect the patterns of State anxiety
(dynamic) over time.
39
Plots on first 20 participants

0.0
16
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0
17
18
1.0
2.0
3.0
19
20
70
60
50
40
11
12
13
14
15
10
30
20
70
60
State Anxiety
50
40
30
20
70
60
50
40
30
20
70
60
50
40
30
20
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
Copyright (c) 2009Time

by Mike Cheung
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
40
50
40
30
State Anxiety
60
70
80
Intercepts and slopes of first 20 participants
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Copyright (c) 2009Time

by Mike Cheung
2.5
3.0
41
A growth model
Coping
flexibility
Trait anxiety
Intercept
(I)
Y1
Slope
(S)
1 1
Y2
0
1
Y3
Y4
42
43
Effect of trait anxiety on state anxiety over time
45
40
35
-1SD State Anxiety

Mean State Anxiety
+1SD State Anxiety
30
State Anxiety
50
55
60
Effect of Trait Anxiety
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Copyright (c) 2009 by

Mike Cheung
Time
2.5
3.0
44
Conclusion
SEM is a general and flexible technique for behavioral

scientists.
Some extensions that we have not addressed here:
Handling missing data with maximum likelihood
Multilevel SEM
Categorical data
Important notes:
SEM is very useful in testing whether your proposed
model fits the data;
It does not tell you whether your model makes sense
theoretically;
Garbage in, garbage out.
45
Software for SEM
LISREL: http://www.ssicentral.com/
First SEM package in the market
EQS: http://www.mvsoft.com/
Moderate user friendly
Amos: http://www.spss.com/amos/
Very user friendly
Mplus: http://www.statmodel.com/
Most powerful
Mx: http://www.vcu.edu/mx/
Freely available
46
Suggested books for learning SEM
General:
AMOS:
Byrne, B.M. (2001).Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic

concepts, applications and programming.Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
LISREL:
Kline, R.B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation

modeling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Maruyama, G.M. (1998). Basics of structural equation
modeling.Thousand Oaks, Calf.: Sage Publications.
Byrne, B.M. (1998). Structural equation modeling with LISREL, PRELIS,

and SIMPLIS: Basic concepts, applications and programming.Mahwah,
N. J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.
EQS:
Byrne, B.M. (2006).Structural equation modeling with EQS and EQS:

Basic concepts, applications and programming (2nd ed.).Mahwah, N.J.:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
47
References
Cheng, C., & Cheung, M.W.L. (2005). Psychological responses to outbreak of

severe acute respiratory syndrome: A prospective, multiple-time-point study.
Journal of Personality, 73, 261-285.
Cheung, M.W.L., Wong, P.W.C., Liu, K.Y., Yip, P.S.F., Fan, S.Y.S., & Lam,
T.H. (2008). A study of sexual satisfaction and frequency of sex among Hong
Kong Chinese couples. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 129-139.
Hershberger, S.L. (2003). The growth of structural equation modeling: 19942001. Structural Equation Modeling, 10, 35-46.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance
structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural
Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.
Lance, C. E., Butts, M. M., & Michels, L. C. (2006). The sources of four
commonly reported cutoff criteria: What did they really say? Organizational
Research Methods, 9, 202-220.
48
Lau, P.W.C., Cheung, M.W.L., & Ransdell, L. (2008). A structural equation

model of the relationship between body perception and self-esteem: Global
physical self-concept as the mediator. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9,
493-509.
Lau, P.W.C., Cheung, M.W.L., & Ransdell, L. (2007). Sport identity and sport
participation: A cultural comparison between collective and individualistic
societies. International Journal of Science and Exercise Psychology, 5, 66-81.
Raudenbush, S.W. (2001). Comparing personal trajectories and drawing causal
inferences from longitudinal data. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 501-525.
Stuifbergen, A., Seraphine, A., & Roberts, G. (2000). An explanatory model of
health promotion for persons with chronic disabling conditions. Nursing
Research, 49, 122129.
Tremblay, P.F., & Gardner, R.C. (1996). On the growth of structural equation
modeling in psychological journals. Structural Equation Modeling, 3, 93-104.
Thank you!
49

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Statistical Methods- Analyzing Data on

Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior:

What is this talk about?

Direct path from a factor

Direct path from one

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Measurement error for

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Some models under SEM

Multiple regression is used to study the

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Properties of multiple regression

Fitting all IVs simultaneously

There is only one DV

We are interested in the psychological

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Our extended example

Severity of illness has both direct and indirect effects on

Properties of path analysis

Fitting all IVs and DVs simultaneously

Direct, indirect and total

For observed variables only

An application of path analysis

Confirmatory factor analysis

Why latent variables are so important in

Researchers are usually interested in the

Psychological constructs are measured with

A hypothetical two-factor model

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Properties of a CFA model

We can study the reliability and construct

No causal directions among latent variables

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Structural equation modeling

SEM is a general modeling framework to

Our extended example again

Adapted from Stuifbergen, Seraphine and Roberts (2000, p. 128).

Publication trend of using different

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

1994-2001: Hershberger (2003)

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Conceptual framework for data analysis

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

The process of doing an SEM

Lau, Cheung and Ransdell (2008) were

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

The proposed model for testing

Control variables: Age, and actual and ideal body ratings

Step 1: Measurement model (CFA)

The first step is to establish the

If the instrument is not measuring something

A 5 factor CFA model

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Notes in fitting CFA (and SEM) models

Latent variables do not have their own scales

Three types of parameters:

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Copyright (c) 2009 by Mike Cheung

Notes in fitting CFA (and SEM) models

How do we know that the proposed model

Chi-square statistic: if the proposed model is

We hope to observe a non-significant chi-square in

Notes in fitting CFA (and SEM) models