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2 - Building Blocks and Tools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2026

Kenneth A. Bollen
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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Summary

Chapter 2 focuses on background information that is essential to understanding SEMs. This includes providing the general structural equation model that appears throughout the book along with definitions of the notation and the assumptions of the model. The chapter introduces path diagram symbols and their relation to the equation form of the model. It also describes differences between endogenous and exogenous variables and observed and latent variables for both continuous and categorical variables. In addition, the chapter introduces the problems of missing data, outliers and influential cases, and multiple significance testing, issues that are common in all types of models. Finally, basic rules of expected values, variances, and covariances are part of the chapter.

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  • Building Blocks and Tools
  • Kenneth A. Bollen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Book: Elements of Structural Equation Models (SEMs)
  • Online publication: 05 February 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009312806.003
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  • Building Blocks and Tools
  • Kenneth A. Bollen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Book: Elements of Structural Equation Models (SEMs)
  • Online publication: 05 February 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009312806.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Building Blocks and Tools
  • Kenneth A. Bollen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Book: Elements of Structural Equation Models (SEMs)
  • Online publication: 05 February 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009312806.003
Available formats
×