ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the technique of path analysis, which can be considered the simplest form of structural equation modeling (SEM). More complex forms of SEM are often referred to as latent variable SEM, or simply as SEM. The models are called recursive models, meaning that paths, and presumed causes, go in one direction only. It is possible to have feedback loops in a model, to specify that two variables affect each other in a reciprocal fashion. Time precedence, along with previous research, may also be used to justify the paths from Ability to each subsequent variable in the model. Achievement has four paths pointing toward it, four variables explaining it in the model, whereas Ability has only one explanatory variable pointing toward it. The chapter provides a simple model involving Ability, Motivation, and Achievement.
