Exploratory structural equation (ESEM) has received increased attention in the methodological literature as a promising tool for evaluating latent variable measurement models. It overcomes many of the limitations attached to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), while capitalizing on the benefits of each. Given…

This note demonstrates that measurement invariance does not guarantee meaningful and valid group comparisons in multiple-population settings. The article follows on a recent critical discussion by Robitzsch and Lüdtke, who argued that measurement invariance was not a pre-requisite for such comparisons. Within the framework of common factor…

The present study examined the convergent validity between two frequently used achievement goal instruments: Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS) and the Achievement Goal Questionnaire 3 x 2 (AGQ 3 x 2). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models tested for relationships both within and across the scales in a sample of…

Composite reliability, or coefficient omega, can be estimated using structural equation modeling. Composite reliability is usually estimated under the basic independent clusters model of confirmatory factor analysis (ICM-CFA). However, due to the existence of cross-loadings, the model fit of the exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) is…

Structural equation models comprise a large class of popular statistical models, including factor analysis models, certain mixed models, and extensions thereof. Model estimation is complicated by the fact that we typically have multiple interdependent response variables and multiple latent variables (which may also be called random effects or…

In educational and psychological research, it is common to use latent factors to represent constructs and then to examine covariate effects on these latent factors. Using empirical data, this study applied three approaches to covariate effects on latent factors: the multiple-indicator multiple-cause (MIMIC) approach, multiple group confirmatory…

This simulation study was conducted to compare the performances of Frequentist and Bayesian approaches in the context of power to detect model misspecification in terms of omitted cross-loading in CFA models with respect to the several variables (number of omitted cross-loading, magnitude of main loading, number of factors, number of indicators…

Determining the number of factors is a critical first step in exploratory factor analysis. Although various criteria and methods for determining the number of factors have been evaluated in the usual between-subjects R-technique factor analysis, there is still question of how these methods perform in within-subjects P-technique factor analysis. A…

In exploratory item factor analysis (IFA), researchers may use model fit statistics and commonly invoked fit thresholds to help determine the dimensionality of an assessment. However, these indices and thresholds may mislead as they were developed in a confirmatory framework for models with continuous, not categorical, indicators. The present…

With a growing interest in research on educational processes, there is a need to overview suitable latent variable models for students' learning experiences in real-time. This tutorial provides an introduction to intraindividual (multilevel) structural equation models (ISEM) for the analysis of process data (e.g. intensive longitudinal,…

The main thesis of the present study is to use the Bayesian structural equation modeling (BSEM) methodology of establishing approximate measurement invariance (A-MI) using data from a national examination in Saudi Arabia as an alternative to not meeting strong invariance criteria. Instead, we illustrate how to account for the absence of…

Mathematical giftedness (MG) is an intriguing phenomenon, the nature of which has yet to be sufficiently explored. This study goes a step further in understanding how MG is related to expertise in mathematics (EM) and general giftedness (G). Cognitive testing was conducted among 197 high school students with different levels of G and of EM. Based…

National goals and performance standards were introduced in Sweden during the 1990s as part of a curriculum reform. The intention was to detect shortcomings among students and provide support to those students who did not reach the passing grade in one (or several) subject/s. Despite this reform, approximately one-fourth of the students do not…

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of acquiescence on both positively and negatively worded questions, both when unidimensionality was assumed and when it was not. To accomplish this, undergraduate student responses to a previously validated survey of student engagement were used to compare several models of acquiescence, using a…

Prior studies have demonstrated inconsistent findings with regard to the relationship between need for cognition and creativity. In our study, measurement issues were explored as a potential source of these inconsistencies. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine the factor structure underlying the 18-item need for cognition…