Book Description

You are welcome to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Made Easy for Business and Social Science Research Using SPSS and Amos. This book seeks to provide a simple practical guide to conducting quantitative data analysis. First, it presents an overview of quantitative research, by explaining different types of variables and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. Second, it presents the rubrics for designing quantitative questionnaires, explains sampling and illustrates how to determine sample size. Third, the book also explains descriptive statistics and how to conduct and present descriptive statistics in a research write-up. Fourth, it provides a step by step process to carry out exploratory factor analysis and procedures for interpreting related outputs from the statistical software package, SPSS. Fifth, it teaches how to establish reliability and validity in quantitative research. Finally, the book explains the basics of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and demonstrates the two-step approach to SEM analysis, the foundational concepts of measurement models, structural models, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Path Analysis (PA). It also teaches how to run SEM analysis using Amos, and how to interpret the resulting output. This book is essential for anyone involved in business and social science research. Its purpose is not to create a 'one best format', but to offer a practical guide in analyzing quantitative data and presenting such analysis in research papers, long essays, theses and dissertations.