Psychology 214B: Advanced Multivariate Techniques for Psychology

Provides an introduction to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and to structural equation modeling (SEM). SEM is an advanced multivariate statistical technique of growing importance in the social sciences.  Students will develop skills in defining, estimating, testing, and critiquing models.  Topics include: the rationale of EFA and SEM, model identification, goodness of fit, and estimation.  Students will learn how to use relevant software packages (SPSS, LISREL, EQS, and/or AMOS) to conduct exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, path analyses, and full ("hybrid") analyses with latent variables.