ABSTRACT
In this section, I provide a basic introduction to structural equation modeling (SEM). More specifically, we consider the purpose of SEM as well as provide a basic description. Although the roots of structural equation modeling date back to the early 20th century (e.g., Karl Pearson, Charles Spearman, and Sewell Wright), it was not until Karl Jöreskog developed the LISREL (LInear Structural RELations) model and software around 1970 that such models could actually be tested. Thus, SEM is a relatively new technique compared to most other univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods.
