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Syllabus
PSYC U80103.JJ
Advanced Quantitative Methods:
Structural Equation Modeling
Professor Keith A. Markus
Fall 2014
Contact Information:
Dr. Keith A. Markus
kmarkus@aol.com
212-237-8784 (I do not check voice mail when I am off campus)
Room 10.63.11 NB, 524 W59 Street.
Psychology Department, John Jay College
Course Description:
Additional Reading:
Freedman, D. A. (1991). Statistical models and
shoe leather. Sociological Methodology, 21, 291-313
Hayduk, L., Cummings, G., Stratkotter, R.,
Nimmo, M., Grygoryev, K., Dosman, D., Gillespie, M.,
Pazderka-Robinson, H., & Boadu, K. (2003). Pearl's
d-separation: One more step into causal thinking.
Markus, K. A. (2006) Structural Equation
Modeling. In S. G. Rogelberg (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, (pp 773 - 776).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Markus, K. A. (2010). Structural Equations and
Causal Explanations: Some Challenges for Causal SEM. Structural
Equation Modeling, 17, 654-676.
Rogers, J. L. (2010). The epistemology of
mathematical and statistical modeling: A quiet methodological
revolution. American Psychologist, 65, 1-12.
Handouts (posted on
Blackboard):
SEM glossary
SEM matrix algebra basics
Required Software:
Installation:
1. Point your web browser to the Comprehensive R Archive
Network (CRAN).
2. From the sidebar menu on the left, near the top, click Mirrors
and select something geographically close (e.g., Pennsylvania).
The same page will reload from a closer server.
3. Select Windows (if that is your operating system), if you use
an Apple computer, your version of R differs somewhat and I am not
familiar with it.
4. Click base. Then download and run the newest version
installation file (currently R-2.9.1-win32.exe). Further
installation instructions are provided on the CRAN web page.
5. Once installation is compete, start R. You will see a window
with a '>' prompt. At the prompt you may type the following
command to test the installation.
> demo(graphics)
You will be prompted to hit Enter several times as you move
through the demo. A series of graphs should appear in a separate
window inside the R window if R has been installed correctly.
6. On the Packages menu in R, select Install Packages. You will
be prompted with a list of mirror sites that opens in a separate
window. Again, pick something close (e.g., USA PA or USA PA2).
7. Momentarily, you will be prompted with a list of packages in a
window similar to the mirror site window that you just used. Click
sem. (Very close to the bottom of the list.)
8. After some brief chugging, you should have a message in your
main R window indicating that the sem package installed correctly.
9. You can test the installation by typing the following command
at the R prompt.
>library(sem)
>?sem
This should open a new window outside of the main R window with a
help file on the sem() function. At the top, it should say General
Structural Equation Models in large blue letters.
10. Return to the R console window where you type commands. At the
prompt, enter the following command. When prompted, choose not to
save the workspace image. This will close R.
>q()
Repeat steps 6-9 for the lavaan package. Use library(lavaan) and
?lavaan to test the installation.
Why, one might wonder, not use popular commercially available SEM
programs such as LISREL, EQS, AMOS or Mplus? Because they are very
expensive and free student versions typically only have the
ability to run very limited models. Once you learn to use the free
packages above, you will be in a better position to evaluate which
SEM software you might want to purchase. You will also have a
sufficient foundation to make the adjustment to alternative SEM
software.
Homework: You will need to run
examples using R and turn in printed output to demonstrate that
you have done this. As such, you need to have a PC capable
of running R, access to the Internet, and a printer.
Homework will generally involve small tasks. However, as
with any other new skill, give yourself plenty of extra time to
get confused, muck around by trial and error, and eventually
figure out what you did wrong. (Running the Mac version of R is
not recommended because it differs from the Windows version and I
cannot answer questions about it.)
Turn in homework assignments at the beginning of class on the
days noted on the schedule. The assignments may not make
sense to you until you cover the material to which they refer. The
specific assignments will appear on Blackboard.
Grading: Each of the four examination
modules is worth 15% of your total grade. That leaves
40% for the homework assignments. Letter
grades will be assigned as indicated below.
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Special Needs:
To request accommodations please contact the Office of the Vice
President for Student Affairs (Room 7301 Graduate Center; (212)
817-7400). Information about accommodations can be found in the
Graduate Center Student Handbook 05-06, pp. 51-52).
Academic Honesty:
The Graduate Center of The City University of New York is
committed to the highest standards of academic honesty. Acts of
academic dishonesty include—but are not limited to—plagiarism, (in
drafts, outlines, and examinations, as well as final papers),
cheating, bribery, academic fraud, sabotage of research materials,
the sale of academic papers, and the falsification of records. An
individual who engages in these or related activities or who
knowingly aids another who engages in them is acting in an
academically dishonest manner and will be subject to disciplinary
action in accordance with the bylaws and procedures of The
Graduate Center and the Board of Trustees of The City University
of New York.
Each member of the academic community is expected to give full,
fair, and formal credit to any and all sources that have
contributed to the formulation of ideas, methods, interpretations,
and findings. The absence of such formal credit is an affirmation
representing that the work is fully the writer’s. The term
“sources” includes, but is not limited to, published or
unpublished materials, lectures and lecture notes, computer
programs, mathematical and other symbolic formulations, course
papers, examinations, theses, dissertations, and comments offered
in class or informal discussions, and includes electronic media.
The representation that such work of another person is the
writer’s own is plagiarism.
Care must be taken to document the source of any ideas or
arguments. If the actual words of a source are used, they must
appear within quotation marks. In cases that are unclear, the
writer must take due care to avoid plagiarism.
The source should be cited whenever:
(a) a text is quoted verbatim
(b) data gathered by another are presented in diagrams or tables
(c) the results of a study done by another are used
(d) the work or intellectual effort of another is paraphrased by
the writer
Because the intent to deceive is not a
necessary element in plagiarism, careful note taking and record
keeping are essential in order to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
For additional information, please consult
“Avoiding and Detecting Plagiarism,” available in the Office of
the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Provost’s Office, or
at
http://web.gc.cuny.edu/provost/pdf/AvoidingPlagiarism.pdf.
(From The Graduate Center Student Handbook 05-06, pp. 36-37)