By focusing on how structural equation modeling (SEM) can illuminate what we know abou social and behavioral phenomena rather than on the "ins and outs" of the various SEM programs (eg., AMOS, LISREL, EQS), David Kaplan demonstrates to the reader the utility of SEM, its limitations, and the statistical underpinnings of the method. The book begins with an explanation of confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis, and how these two techniques can be combined for SEM.
David Kaplan received his Ph.D. in Education from UCLA in 1987. He is now a Professor of Education and (by courtesy) Psychology at the University of Delaware. His research interests are in the development and application of statistical models to problems in educational evaluation and policy analysis. His current program of research concerns the development of dynamic latent continuous and categorical variable models for studying the diffusion of educational innovations.