Which Structural Equation Modeling software (eg., LISREL, AMOS, EQS... etc) is relatively more comprehensive and therefore recommended for most research situations? And why?
Please help me on how to obtain and run the Structural Equation Modeling software that you think should be recommended. I want to compare the softwares along with the philosophies behind them and use one for my dissertation.
I would recommend Mplus as even complicated SEM models are often possible to be executed in one go.
Hi Mitiku,
In my opinion, the main differences are related to GUI. Therefore, the software choice depends mostly on user preferences.
I suggest to search for the paper "A Review of Eight Software Packages for Structural Equation Modeling" by Narayanan (it is available in RG).
Hope it helps.
Best,
Ruben.
First, I think you may not need to compare all the software packages to justify your choice of any particular software; rather you just need to justify the package you would choose within its nitty-gritty. Secondly, the choice of the software package may also depend on your research context, sample and parameters under consideration. For instance, if your study is of exploratory nature and having small sample size, SmartPLS could be a choice with sufficient justifications. As Ruben suggests, you can read this paper to get an initial flavor of eight software packages for running SEM. The paper is attached here:
Hi,
I will not recommend any software for you because of two reasons. Firstly, all these softwares are classical and comprehensive in their own world. Secondly, I don not know about your research and what you want to achieve. For instance, do you intend to use formative or reflective indicators? How complex are your variables?
I have used most of the commercially available SEM packages and in my experience Mplus is by far the best. This is because it allows the classic SEM framework to be part of larger models that include mixture models, categorical variables, complex samples, and hierarchical data structure (multilevel). Many other packages can also do these things but Mplus has integrated them very well. Have a look at the diagram of The Mplus Modeling Framework at https://www.statmodel.com/features.shtml and you'll get an idea of how comprehensive and flexible this modelling framework is.
Mplus is favored in terms of the very large range of models fitted - this book give a very clear account of what is possible
http://www.guilford.com/books/Data-Analysis-with-Mplus/Christian-Geiser/9781462502455
I have used AMOS and I found it user friendly...compatible with SPSS.
AMOS is designed primarily for structural equation modeling, and covariance structure modeling.
I prefer AMOS package since it is user-friendly. But, if your model contain of categorical variables, MPLUS is more preferred because it has WILSMV estimator
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