0.2 Learning goals

After completing the course, you will be able to do the following:

1. Translate a verbal theory into a conceptual model, and translate a conceptual model into a statistical model
2. Independently analyze data using the free, open-source statistical software R (a marketable job skill)
3. Apply the “latent variable model” to a real-life problem, where observed variables do not directly measure, but are indicators of, an unobserved social scientific construct.
4. Use the “path model” to describe how several variables are causally related to one another, including complex relationships such as mediation and moderation
5. Explain to a fellow student that the technique “structural equation modeling” combines latent variable models with path models, and allows you to test an entire theory in one go
6. Reflect critically on decisions in the analysis of structural equation models, both your own, and in published research