Swiss Summer School 2013

Peter Schmidt/Eldad Davidov
Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) I

Peter Schmidt is Professor for Social Research at the International Laboratory of Socio-Cultural research at the State University Higher School of Economics(HSE) in Moscow. His research interests are the foundations and applications of structural equation models, analysis of panel data, and empirical testing of rational choice theory. Applications include national identity, immigration and environmental behavior, topics on which he has published several books and papers . Schmidt is emeritus Professor for Social Research Methods at the University of Giessen.

Eldad Davidov is professor of sociology at the University of Zurich. His research interests concentrate on structural equation modeling especially applied to cross-country and longitudinal survey data. In his applications he analyzes human values, attitudes toward immigrants or other minorities and rational choice models.

Workshop contents and objectives

The course will show how a causal theory can be represented by a path diagram and translated into a structural equation model and how the model can be estimated and tested with the AMOS computer program. In the first part we will deal with measurement models relating single or multiple indicators to latent variables. Furthermore, different specifications of measurement models are tested via confirmatory factor analysis as a special case of a structural equation model. The second part comprises both the structural and the measurement model. Topics include treatment of cross-cultural data with multiple-group modeling, Mimic models, moderation and mediation, and missing values. Special attention is given to the process of model modification. We warmly recommend participants to bring their own data with them. Time will be dedicated for consultation on Thursday, and some participants will have the opportunity to present their models on the last day of the course.

Objectives

The objective of this course is to show how structural equation modeling can be used to develop and/or test both measurement models and causal theories between latent variables. A further important aim is to familiarize participants with the AMOS program. The program will be run by graphical input via path diagrams (AMOS Graphics).

Bibliography

Basic texts/overview

Reading

 

[Workshops]