The never-ending organizational challenge is to allocate available resources to best achieve its goals. Out of this fundamental question several models have evolved. One is a conceptual model--a way to think about how organizations operate. A second is a statistical model estimating the magnitude of relationships among goals and elements of the…

Path analytic techniques for assessing the validity of indicators in multitrait-multimethod matrices represent improvements on Campbell and Fiske's early procedures for testing for validity. The diagnosis of indicator ills by means of confirmatory factor analysis is especially useful. An empirical example of these techniques is presented.…

Path analysis is a data analytic technique for estimating the strengths of hypothesized relationships among a group of variables for a particular sample. Strategies for the use of path analysis are discussed in detail in this extensive article. (JKS)

The analytical procedure of path analysis is described in terms of its use in nonexperimental settings in the social sciences. The description assumes a moderate statistical background on the part of the reader. (JKS)

Path analyses of two multitrait-multimethod matrices are used as examples of the kind of information afforded by application of the technique. It is concluded that the technique should be of considerable aid to researchers who want to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity of their measures. (Author/CTM)

Factor analysis in several populations, covariance structure models, three-mode factor analysis, structural equations systems with measurement model, and analysis of covariance with measurement model are all shown to be specializations of a general moment structure model. Some new structured linear models are also described. (Author/CTM)

An example demonstrates that Joreskog's suggested sufficient conditions for identifying unknown parameters in a confirmatory factor analytic model with correlated factors are not sufficient. Sufficient conditions are presented. (Author/JKS)

Path analysis is presented as a technique that can be used to test on a priori model based on a theoretical conceptualization involving a network of selected variables. This being an introductory source, no previous knowledge of path analysis is assumed, although some understanding of the fundamentals of multiple regression analysis might be…

The use of a path analysis model to obtain unique, substantively meaningful decomposition of variance among endogenous (independent) variables in the model is argued. This reasoning runs counter to more traditional path analytic work. An example is provided. (Author/JKS)

A general approach to analysis of covariance structures is considered, in which the variances and covariances or correlations of the observed variables are directly expressed in terms of the parameters of interest. The statistical problems of identification, estimation and testing of such covariance or correlation structures are discussed.…

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the advantages of path analysis for the exposition of results in data analytic papers. Probably the greatest advantage is that it provides a means by which the nature of the problem may be handily summarized. The method of path analysis, although conceived over sixty years ago by Sewell Wright, has only…

Procedures for simultaneous confirmatory factor analysis in several populations are useful in a variety of problems. This is demonstrated with examples involving missing data, comparison of part correlations between groups, testing the equality of regression weights between groups with multiple indicators of each variable, and the formulation of…

Four major advantages make PERT scheduling a most valuable tool in administering the self-motivated individualized-learning-type course. (Author)

Three replications of a structural equation model for the prediction of behavior are tested, using a questionnaire assessing undergraduate students' attitudes, subjective norms, intentions, and behavior. The proposed models supersede the Fishbein-Ajzen theory in their ability to reflect the dynamics of attitude-behavior relations. (Author/RD)

A Monte Carlo simulation was used to ascertain the degree of inflation that can occur in regression estimates when samples contain randomly occurring instances of a pattern among correlations called cooperative suppression. Ten thousand samples of scores on three variables were randomly drawn from a population in which the correlations among the…