LISREL

LISRELis a program application provided by Windows for performing structural equation modeling (SEM), and other related linear structure modeling (e.g.,multilevel structural equation modeling, multilevel linear and non-linear modeling, etc.).

LISREL for Windows is helpful in importing the external data in various formats like SPSS, SAS , MS Excel, etc. as a PRELIS system file (PSF).  The software uses a graphics file with the default extension called PTH in order to capture the path diagram.  It is also useful in fitting the measured model to the data.  For example, suppose one wants to use LISREL while fitting the model to the data from SPSS tutorials..  In this case, one has to use the “import data” option from the file menu and select the “SPSS data file (*.sav)” option.

LISREL can grip a wide collection of problems and models and can perform the following functions:

• Handle models with measurement error.
• Help the researcher in non-recursive models.
• Helpful in solving multivariate analysis problems (e.g., MANOVA).
• Useful for working on multi-group comparisons (like developing separate models for males and females, etc.)
• Useful in the tests of constraints.

This software can be used in the decomposition of certain effects that are initially done manually by the researcher.  In complicated models, however, the decomposition of these effects can be quite tedious.

One quality that is fairly common in the LISREL model is that the models disregard the means and regard all variables to be centered about their group means.  This, in turn, results in having the models with zero means.  This is done in order to reduce the complexity associated in the analysis.

If a multi-group model is being worked on with the help of LISREL, then it will give the same output of that process as is obtained by running a regression with dummy variables in SPSS.

LISREL helps the researcher in providing a fairly influential and flexible means for the examination of various group differences. It provides indicative information called modification indices which help the researcher in identifying the equality constraints.

LISREL can help the user to identify the interaction effects that need to be included in the model and the ones that do not need to be included in the model.  The indicative information can be used in diagnosing the model specification.

To purchase LISREL or for a free trial version, click here.

Related Analyses:

•  SEM