Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is a statistical approach to testing hypothesis about the relationships among observed and latent variables. The use of SEM in research has increased in psychology, sociology, and economics in recent years. In particular educational researchers try to obtain the complete image of the process of education through the measurement of personality differences, learning environment, motivation levels and host of other variables that affect the teaching and learning process. With the use of survey instruments and interviews with students, teachers and other stakeholders as a lens, educators can assess and gain valuable information about the social ecology of the classrooms that could help in improving the instructional approach, classroom management and the learning organizations. A considerable number of research have been conducted to identify the factors and interactions between students’ characteristics, personal preferences, affective traits, study skills, and various other factors that could help in better educational performance. In recent years, educational researchers use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as a statistical technique to explore the complex and dynamic nature of interactions in educational research and practice. SEM is becoming a powerful analytical tool and making methodological advances in multivariate analysis. This book presents the collective works on concepts, methodologies and applications of SEM in educational research and practice. The anthology of current research described in this book will be a valuable resource for the next generation educational practitioners.

Over the years, researchers have developed statistical methods to help them investigate and interpret issues of interest in many discipline areas. These methods range from descriptive to inferential to multivariate statistics. As the psychometrics measures in education become more complex, vigorous and robust methods were needed in order to represent research data efficiently. One such method is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). SEM is a statistical technique that allows the simultaneous analysis of a series of structural equations. It also allows a dependent variable in one equation to become an independent variable in another equation. It is a comprehensive statistical approach to testing hypotheses about relations among observed and latent variables. SEM is commonly known as causal modeling, or path analysis, which hypothesizes causal relationships among variables and tests the causal models with a linear equation system. As educational research questions become more complex, they need to be evaluated with more sophisticated tools. The pervasive use of SEM in the literature has shown that SEM has a potential to be of assistance to modern educational researchers. This book will bring together prominent educators and researchers from around the world to share their contemporary research on structural equation modeling in educational settings. The chapters provide information on recent trends and developments and effective applications of the different models to answer various educational research questions. This book is a critical and specialized source that describes recent advances in SEM in international academia.

Sponsored by the American Educational Research Association's Special Interest Group for Educational Statisticians This volume is the second edition of Hancock and Mueller’s highly-successful 2006 volume, with all of the original chapters updated as well as four new chapters. The second edition, like the first, is intended to serve as a didactically-oriented resource for graduate students and research professionals, covering a broad range of advanced topics often not discussed in introductory courses on structural equation modeling (SEM). Such topics are important in furthering the understanding of foundations and assumptions underlying SEM as well as in exploring SEM, as a potential tool to address new types of research questions that might not have arisen during a first course. Chapters focus on the clear explanation and application of topics, rather than on analytical derivations, and contain materials from popular SEM software.

With the availability of software programs such as LISREL, EQS, and AMOS modeling techniques have become a popular tool for formalized presentation of the hypothesized relationships underlying correlational research and for testing the plausibility of hypothesizing for a particular data set. The popularity of these techniques, however, has often led to misunderstandings of them, particularly by students being exposed to them for the first time. Through the use of careful narrative explanation, Basics of Structural Equation Modeling describes the logic underlying structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches, describes how SEM approaches relate to techniques like regression and factor analysis, analyzes the strengths and shortcomings of SEM as compared to alternative methodologies, and explores the various methodologies for analyzing structural equation data.

Structural Equation Modeling is a statistical method increasingly used in scientific studies in the fields of Social Sciences. It is currently a preferred analysis method, especially in doctoral dissertations and academic researches. Many universities do not include this method in the curriculum, so students and scholars try to solve these problems using books and internet resources. This book aims to guide the researcher in a way that is free from math expressions. It teaches the steps of a research program using structured equality modeling practically. For students writing theses and scholars preparing academic articles, this book aims to analyze systematically the methodology of studies conducted using structural equation modeling methods in the social sciences. In as simple language as possible, it conveys basic information. It consists of two parts: the first gives basic concepts of structural equation modeling, and the second gives examples of applications.

"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"--

This book has been replaced by Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, Fifth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-5191-0.