12/4/2017 theonlythingunchangedisChange:AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex

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THEONLYTHINGUNCHANGEDIS
CHANGE

BE I N G
T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 1 9 , 2 0 0 7

book,idea,dialogue,shadow,healing,
AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex
transcendence
V I EW MY CO MP LET E P R O FI LE GlobalmodelfittestsproducedbyAMOS,theseteststatisticsare
stillcomputedundertheassumptionofjointmultivariate
normality.Inotherwords,thesevalueswillremainunchanged
Bookshelf whetheryouusebootstrappingornot.
Osho:lifeanddeath achisquareprobabilityvaluegreaterthan.05indicates
data acceptablemodelfit
foragoodmodelfit,wewantthechisquaretobeinsignificant
data,1
PenaltyofmodelcomplexityForagivensetofdataand
variables,thegoodnessoffitofamorecomplex,highly
parameterizedmodeltendstobegreaterthanforsimplermodels
Thehighestpurposeofyourlifeistobe
becauseofthelossofdegreesoffreedomofthecomplexmodel.
yourselftothebestofyourabilityand
Thus,agoodmodelfitindicatedbyfitmeasuresmayresultfrom
liveeachmomentasfullyaspossible.
1)acorrectlyspecifiedmodelthatadequatelyrepresentsthe
sampledataor2)ahighlyoverparamerizedmodelthataccounts
T R A NQ U I L forthefitofthemdoelinthesample,regardlessofwhetherthere
isamatchbetweenthespecifiedmodelandthepopulation
covariancematrix.
chisquaretestfunctionsasastatisticalmethodforevaluating
models,thefitindexesismoredescriptivethatnstatistical.Fit
indexesdescribeandevaluatehteresidualsthatresultfrom
fittingamodeltothedata.
HoyleandPanter(1995)recommendsomeindexesofoverall
NO T T H I S MO MENT modelfit,unadjustedchisqure,SatorraBenterscaledchisqure,
April2007(57) GFI,TLI(NNFI),IFI,CFI,RNI

Chisquaretest

S EAR CH
Thenullhypothesisisthepostulatedmodelholdsinthe
Search population,i.e.,theimplied(sample)covariancematrix=
populationcovriancematrix.TheresearcherhopesNOTtoreject
thenullhypothesis,incontrasttotraditionalstatistical
T W O : A NO T H ER procedures.Incontrasttotraditionalsignificancetesting,the
Idomythingandyoudoyour researcherusuallyprefersanonsignificantchisquare(sucha
thing. findingindicatesthatthepredictedmodeliscongruentwiththe
Iamnotinthisworldtoliveupto observeddata.).Inpractice,onlythecentralchisquare
yourexpectations, distributionisusedtotestthenullhypothesis.
Andyouarenotinthisworldto Thenullhypothesisundertestisthatthemodelfitsthedata,so
liveuptomine. youhopetofindasmall,nonsignificantchisquarevaluefor
Youareyou,andIamI, thistest.
andifbychancewefindeach

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12/4/2017
other,it'sbeautiful.
Ifnot,itcan'tbehelped.
GestaltprayerbyFritzPerls
O NE: S ELF
IamMe.Inalltheworld,thereisnoone
elseexactlylikeme.Everythingthat
comesoutofmeisauthenticallymine,
becauseIalonechoseitIown
everythingaboutme:mybody,my
feelings,mymouth,myvoice,allmy
actions,whethertheybetoothersor
myself.Iownmyfantasies,mydreams,
myhopes,myfears.Iownmytriumphs
andsuccesses,allmyfailuresand
mistakes.BecauseIownallofme,Ican
becomeintimatelyacquaintedwithme.
Bysodoing,Icanlovemeandbe
friendlywithallmyparts.Iknowthere
areaspectsaboutmyselfthatpuzzleme,
andotheraspectsthatIdonotknow
butaslongasIamfriendlyandloving
tomyself,Icancourageouslyand
hopefullylookforsolutionstothe
puzzlesandwaystofindoutmoreabout
me.HoweverIlookandsound,whatever
Isayanddo,andwhateverIthinkand
feelatagivenmomentintimeis
authenticallyme.Iflatersomepartsof
howIlooked,sounded,thought,andfelt
turnouttobeunfitting,Icandiscard
thatwhichisunfitting,keeptherest,and
inventsomethingnewforthatwhichI
discarded.Icansee,hear,feel,think,say,
anddo.Ihavethetoolstosurvive,tobe
closetoothers,tobeproductive,andto
makesenseandorderoutoftheworldof
peopleandthingsoutsideofme.Iown
me,andtherefore,Icanengineerme.I
amme,andIamOkay.
selfesteembyVirginiaSatir
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theonlythingunchangedisChange:AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex
Chisqureandpvaluethehighertheprobabilitylevel(pvalue)
associatedwithchisquare,thebetterthefit.Amosreportsthe
valueofchisqureasCMIN.Asignificantchisquareindicates
lackofsatisfactorymodelfit.Forexample,basedonalevelof
.o5,ifthehypothizedSEMmodeloutputshowsp=.000,then
suggestingthehypothesizedmodelshouldberejected,i.e.,the
hypothesizedmodelisnotadequate.Ifmodelchisquare<.05,
theresearcher'smodelisrejected.Thesmallerthechisquare,
thebetterthemodelfit.Ifprobabilityleveloftheanalysisoutput
is0.05orless,thedepartureofthedatafromthemodelis
significantlyatthe.05level.Thechisquaretestoffersonlya
dichotomousdecisionstrategyimpliedbyastatisticaldecision
ruleandcan'tbeusedtoquantifythedegreeoffitalonga
continuumwithsomeprespecifiedboundary.
ChisquareStatistics.Theadequacyoffitofamodelisamessy
issueinstructuralequationmodelingatthistime.One
possibilityistousethechisquarestatistic.Thechisquareisa
functionofthedifferencesbetweentheobservedcovariancesand
thecovariancesimpliedbythemodel.
Thedecisionrulewhichmightbeappliedis:Ifthechisquare
statisticisNOTsignificant,thenthemodelfitsthedata
adequately.ButifthechisquarestatisticISsignificant,thenthe
modeldoesnotfitthedataadequately.SoEFAer,CFAer,and
SEMershopefornonsignificancewhenmeasuringgoodnessof
fitusingthechisquarestatistic.
Unfortunately,manypeoplefeelthatthechisquarestatisticisa
poormeasureofoverallgoodnessoffit.Themainproblemwith
itisthatwithlargesamples,eventhesmallestdeviationofthe
datafromthemodelbeingtestedwillyieldasignificantchi
squarevalue.Thus,itsnotuncommontoALWAYSgeta
significantchisquare.
supposetheproposemodelhaschisquare12.1checkingthe
statistictable,supposethatwiththeappropriatedegreesof
freedomthechisquarerequiredtorejectthenullhypothesisat
the0.01levelis11.3412.1islargerthan11.34meansrejectthe
nullhypothesis(H0:theimpliedcorrelationsandtheobserved
correlationsarefromthesamepopulationandthatany
differencesareduetosamplingerror).thusthemdoeldoes
notfitthedataifchisquarevalueexceedstheappropriate
figureinthestatisticaltablesthenthemodelfailstofitthedata
Iftheproposedmodel'schisquarevalueis2.9,thismeansthat
theproposedmodelcan'tberejected,itdoesn'tmeanthatthe
proposedmodelisright,rathertheproposedmdoelhasnotbeen
shownthatitiswrong
Theanalysisresultoffitindexesarethesameforunstandardized
estimatesandstandardizedestimates.
Reportsofchisqureshouldbeaccompaniedbydegreesof
freedom,samplesize,andpvalue.Example,2(48,N=500)=
303.80,p<.001,TLI=.86,CFI=.90or2(15,
N=2232)=10.91,p=.77(somepeoplerecommendthisbecause
thisprovidesmoreaccurateinformationaboutthepvalue)
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The2associatedwiththemodel#issignificant,2(df,
N=2232)=#,p=0.000,whichsuggeststhatthemodelisnot
consistentwiththeobserveddata.
Nonsignificant2(15,N=2232)=10.91,p=.77,suggestingthat
theproposedmodelisconsistentwiththeobserveddata
Ifpvalueissmallerthan.05,werejecttheproposedmodel
Ifpvalueishigherthan.05,weaccepttheproposedmodel
The2associatedwiththemodelissignificant,2(df,
N=2232)=###,p=0.000,whichsuggeststhatthemodelisnot
consistentwiththeobserveddata.
Nonsignificant2(15,N=2232)=10.91,p=.77,suggestingthat
theproposedmodelisconsistentwiththeobserveddata.
chisquarestatisticisusedmoreasadescriptiveindexoffit,
ratherthanasastatisticaltest.Smaller2valueindicatesbetter
fittingmodelsandaninsignificant2isdesirable.
Chisquareishighlysensitivetodeparturesfrommultivariate
normality.
2issensitivetosamplesize.Withlargesamplesize,thechi
squarevalueswillbeinflated(statisticallysignificant),thus
mighterroneouslyimplyingapoordatatomodelfit
(Schumacker&Lomax,2004).
Withsmallsamplesizes,theremaynotbeenoughpowerto
detectthedifferencesbetweeenseveralcompetingmodelsusing
thechisquarestatisticformodelselectionorevaluation.At
largersamplesizes,powerissohighthatevenmodelswithonly
trivalmisspecificationsarelikelytoberejected.Assamplesize
increases,evenveryminormisspecificationscanleadtopoor
modelfit.Conversely,withsmallsamples,modelswilltendtobe
acceptedeveninthefaceofconsiderablemisspecification.In
large,complexproblems(i.e.,problemsinwhichtherearemany
variablesanddegreesoffreedom),theobservedchisquarewill
nearlyalwaysbestatisticallysignificant,evenwhenthereisa
reasonablygoodfittothedata.Chisquaretestisstrongly
influencedbysamplesize.Apoorfitbasedonasmallsample
sizemayresultinanonsignificantchisquare,whereasagood
fitbasedonalargesamplesizewillresultinasignificantchi
square.Thus,mostapplicationsofconfirmatoryfactoranalysis
requireasubjectiveevaluationofwhetherornotastatistically
significantchisquareissmallenoughtoconstituteanadequate
fit.
Relativechisquare,alsocallednormalchisquare,isthechi
squarefitindexdividedbydegreesoffreedom,inanattemptto
makeitlessdependentonsamplesize.AMOSlistsrelativechi
squareasCMIN/DF(chisqure/degreeoffreedomratio).
Wheaton(1987)advocatedCMIN/DFnotbeused.Intherange
of2to1or3to1indicateacceptablefitbetweenthehypothetical
modelandthesampledata(Carmnines&McIver,1981).Different
researchershaverecommendedusingratioaslowas2oras
highas5toindicateareasonablefit(Marsh&Hocevar,1985).A
chisqure/dfratiolargerthan2indicatesaninadequtefit
(Byrne,1989).chisquare/dfratiovalueslowerthan2arewidely
consideredtorepresentaminimallyplausiblemodel

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(Byrne,1991,TheMaslachBurnoutInventory:validating
factorialstructureandinvarianceacrossintermediates,
secondary,anduniversityeducators.MultivariateBehavioral
Research,26(4),583605)
thesmallertheChisquare,thebetterthefitofthemodel.Ithas
beensuggestedthataChisquaretwoorthreetimesaslargeas
thedegreesoffreedomisacceptable(Carmines
&McIver,1981),butthefitisconsideredbetterthecloserthe
Chisquarevalue
istothedegreesoffreedomforamodel(Thacker,Fields&
Tetrick,1989).In
thepresentsample,itwassuggestedthataratioof5to1wasa
usefulrule
ofthumb(Jacksonetal.,1993,p.755).cfTimothyR.Hinkin
(1995)
AReviewofScaleDevelopmentPracticesintheStudyof
Organizations.
JournalofManagement,Vol.21,No.5.967988
However,Chisquaretestmaybemisleading.1)Themore
complexthemodel,themorelikelyagoodfit(i.e.,thecloserthe
researcher'smodelistobeingjustidentified,themorelikely
goodfitwillbefound).2)Thelargerthesamplesize,themore
likelytherejectionofthemodelandthemorelikelyaTypeII
error(rejectingsomethingtrue).Inverylargesamples,eventiny
differencesbetweentheobservedmodelandtheperfectfitmodel
maybefoundsignificant.3)Thechisquarefitindexisalsovery
sensitivetoviolationsoftheassumptionofmultivariate
normality.Whenthisassumptionisknowntobeviolated,the
researchermaypreferSatorraBentlerscaledchisquare,which
adjustsmodelchisquarefornonnormality.
Unfortunately,manypeoplefeelthatthechisquarestatisticisa
poormeasureofoverallgoodnessoffit.Themainproblemwith
itisthatwithlargesamples,eventhesmallestdeviationofthe
datafromthemodelbeingtestedwillyieldasignificantchi
squarevalue.Thus,itsnotuncommontoALWAYSgeta
significantchisquare.
OtherMeasures.Forthisreason,researchershaveresortedto
examiningacollectionofgoodnessoffitstatistics.Byrne
discussestheRMRandthestandardizedRMR,SRMR.Thisis
simplythesquarerootofthedifferencesbetweenactual
variancesandcovariancesandvariancesandcovariances
generatedassumingthemodelistruethereconstructed
variancesandcovariances.ThesmallertheRMRand
standardizedRMR,thebetter.

AMOSoutput

YoushouldalwaysexaminetheNotesforModelsectionofthe
AMOSoutputaftereachAMOSanalysisfinishesbecauseAMOS
willdisplaymosterrorsandwarningsinthissectionofthe
output.Intheoutputshownabove,AMOSreportsthatthe
minimumwasachievedwithnoerrorsorwarnings.Thechi
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squaretestofabsolutemodelfitisreported,alongwithits
degreesoffreedomandprobabilityvalue.Theabsenceoferrors
orwarningsinthissectionoftheoutputmeansthatitissafefor
youtoproceedtothenextoutputsectionofinterest,theFit
Measuresoutput.

Defaultmodel,containsthefitstatisticsforthemodelyou
specifiedinyourAMOSGraphicsdiagram.

SaturatedmodelandIndependencemodel,refertotwobaseline
orcomparisonmodelsautomaticallyfittedbyAMOSaspartof
everyanalysis.
TheSaturatedmodelcontainsasmanyparameterestimates
asthereareavailabledegreesoffreedomorinputsintothe
analysis.TheSaturatedmodelisthustheleastrestrictedmodel
possiblethatcanbefitbyAMOS.

Bycontrast,theIndependencemodelisoneofthemost
restrictivemodelsthatcanbefit:itcontainsestimatesofthe
variancesoftheobservedvariablesonly.Inotherwords,the
Independencemodelassumesallrelationshipsbetweenthe
observedvariablesarezero.
forfinalreportCheckDefaultmodelCMIN(chisquare=
76.1018),p(value),DF(degreeoffreedom)

Ifp=.000,theprobabilityvalueofthechisquaretestissmaller
thanthe.05levelusedbyconvention,youwouldrejectthenull
hypothesisthatthemodelfitsthedata.Thisconclusionisnot
goodnewsfortheresearcherwhohopestofitthismodeltothe
datasetusedintheexample.

Becausethechisquaretestofabsolutemodelfitissensitiveto
samplesizeandnonnormalityintheunderlyingdistributionof
theinputvariables,investigatorsoftenturntovariousdescriptive
fitstatisticstoassesstheoverallfitamodeltothedata.Inthis
framework,amodelmayberejectedonanabsolutebasis,yeta
researchermaystillclaimthatagivenmodeloutperformssome
otherbaselinemodelbyasubstantialamount.Putanotherway,
theargumentresearchersmakeinthiscontextisthattheir
chosenmodelissubstantiallylessfalsethanabaselinemodel,
typicallytheindependencemodel.Amodelthatisparsimonious,
andyetperformswellincomparisontoothermodelsmaybeof
substantiveinterest.

Commonlyreportedfitstatisticsarethechisquare(shown
above),itsdegreesoffreedom(DF),itsprobabilityvalue(P),the
TuckerLewisIndex(TLI),andtheRootMeanSquareErrorof
Approximation(RMSEA)anditslowerandupperconfidence
intervalboundaries.ThereisalsoaStandardizedRootMean
Residual(StandardizedRMR)availablethroughtheTools,
Macromenu,butitisimportanttonotethatthisfitindexisonly

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availableforcompletedatasets(itwillnotbeprintedfor
databasescontainingincompletedata)

Thechisquaretestisanabsolutetestofmodelfit:Ifthe
probabilityvalue(P)isbelow.05,themodelisrejected.The
othermeasuresoffitaredescriptive.HuandBentler(1999)
recommendRMSEAvaluesbelow.06andTuckerLewisIndex
valuesof.95orhigher.SincetheRMSEAforthismodelis.11
andtheTuckerLewisIndexvalueis.92,themodeldoesnotfit
wellaccordingtothedescriptivemeasuresoffit.

Itisrarethatamodelfitswellatfirst.Sometimesmodel
modificationisrequiredtoobtainabetterfittingmodel.AMOS
allowsfortheuseofmodificationindicestogeneratethe
expectedreductionintheoverallmodelfitchisquareforeach
possiblepaththatcanbeaddedtothemodel.Torequest
modificationindexoutput,selecttheModificationIndicescheck
boxintheOutputtabintheAnalysisPropertieswindow.howto
dothis,
checkhttps://stat.utexas.edu/images/SSC/Site/AMOS_Tutorial
.pdf

Absolutefitindexesdirectlyassesshowwellapriorimodel
reproducesthesampledata

Toaddressthelimitationsofchisquretest,goodnessoffit
indexesasadjunctstothechisqurestatisticareusedtoassess
modelfit
Modelwithmanyvariablesandsmallsamplesmaybemore
inclinedtoexperiencedegradationinabsolutefitindexesthan
modelswithmanyvariablesandlargesamplesize.
RMR(rootmeansquareresidual),thesmallertheRMR,the
betterthemodel.AnRMRofzeroindicatesaperfectfit.The
closertheRMRto0foramodelbeingtested,thebetterthemodel
fit.RMRsmallerthan0.05indicatesgoodfit.
SRMR(standardizedRMR,rootmeansquareresidual)SRMR
<=.05meansgoodfit,ThesmallertheSRMR,thebetterthe
modelfit.SRMR=0indicatesperfectfit.Avaluelessthan.08is
consideredgoodfit.SRMRtendstobelowersimplyduetolarger
samplesizeormoreparametersinthemodel.TogetSRMRin
AMOS,selectAnalyze,CalculateEstimatesasusual.ThenSelect
Plugins,StandardizedRMR:thisbringsupablankStandardized
RMRdialog.ThenreselectAnalyze,CalculateEstimates,and
theStandardizedRMRdialogwilldisplaySRMR.
GFIshouldbyequaltoorgreaterthan.90toindicategoodfit.
GFIislessthanorequalto1.Avalueof1indicatesaperfectfit.
GFItendstobelargerassamplesizeincreases.GFI>0.95
indicatesgoodfit.GFIindexisroughlyanalogoustothemultiple
Rsquareinmultipleregressioninthatitrepresentstheoverall
amountofthecovariationamongtheobservedvariablesthatcan
beaccountedforbythehypothesizedmodel.
AGFI(adjustedGFI),AGFIadjuststheGFIfordegreeof
freedom,resultinginlowervaluesformodelswithmore
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parameters.AGFIshouldalsobeatleast.90,closeto1indicates
goodfit.AGFImayunderestimatefitforsmallsamplesizes.
AGFI'susehasbeendeclininganditisnolongerconsidereda
preferredmeasureofgoodnessoffit.AGFI>0.9indicatesgood
fit.
CI(centralityindex)CIshouldbe.90orhighertoacceptthe
model.
CAK
CK(singlesamplecrossvalidationindex)
MCI(centralityindex
CN

Incrementalfixindex(comparativefiindex)measurethe
proportionateimprovementinfitbycomparingatarget
modelwithamorerestricted,nestedbaselinemodel.Anull
modelinwhichalltheobservedvariabelsareuncorrelatedis
themosttypicallyusedbaselinemodel
BaselineComparisonscomparingthegivenmodelwithanalternative
model

CFI(comparativefixindex),closeto1indicatesaverygoodfit,>
0.9orcloseto0.95indicatesgoodfit,byconvention,CFIshould
beequaltoorgreaterthan.90toacceptthemodel.CFIis
independentofsamplesize.CFIismoreappropriatethanNFIin
finitesamples.NFIbehaveserraticallyacrossMLandGLS,
wheresasCFIbehavedconsistenlyacrossthetwoestimation
methods.CFIisrecommendedforroutineuse.Gerbingand
Anderson(1993)recommendedRNIandCFI,DELTA2(IFI).
Whenthesamplesizeissmall,boththeCFIandTLIdecreaseas
weincreasethenumberofvairablesinthemodels.
RNI,RNIisrecommendedforroutineuse.RNIisgenerally
preferredoverTLI.RNI>0.95indicatesgoodfit.
BBI(BentlerBonettindex),shouldbegreaterthan.9toconsider
fitgood.
IFI(incrementalfitindex,alsoknownasDELTA2),IFIshould
beequaltoorgreaterthan.90toacceptthemodel.IFIvalue
closeto1indicatesgoodfit.IFIcanbegreaterthan1.0under
certaincircumstances.IFIisnotrecommendedforroutineuse.
NFI(normedfitindex,alsoknownastheBentlerBonettnormed
fitindex,DELTA1),1=perfectfit.NFIvaluesabove.95aregood,
between.90and.95acceptable,andbelow.90indicatesaneed
torespecifythemodel.NFIgreaterthanorequalto0.9indicates
acceptablemodelfit.NFIlessthan0.9canusuallybeimproved
substantially.Someauthorshaveusedthemoreliberalcutoffof
.80.NFImayunderestimatefitforsmallsamples.NFIdoesnot
reflectparsimony:themoreparametersinthemodel,thelarger
theNFIcoefficient,whichiswhyNNFI(TLI)belowisnow
preferred(NNFIincorporatesacorrectionformodelcomplexity,
whereastheNFIdoesnot).NFIdependsonsamplesize,values
oftheNFIwillbehigherforlargersamplesizes.NFIbehaves
erraticallyacrossestimationmethodsunderconditionsofsmall
samplesize.NFIisnotagoodindicatorforevaluatingmodelfit
whenthesamplesizeissmall.
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NFIsuggestedrelativelypoorermodelfitasmissingdata
increased,withthebiasgenerallymorepronouncedwhendata
wereMARthanwhentheywereMCAR.WhereasNFIisstill
widelyused,itistypicallynotamongtherecommendedindices
inrecentreviews.Marshetal.,(1988)recommendedagainst
usingNFIandinfavorofTLI,becauseNFI,notTLI,issensitive
tosamplesize.Whenthesamplesizeissmall,boththeCFIand
TLIdecreaseasweincreasethenumberofvariablesinthe
model.
NNFI(nonnormedfitindex,alsocalledtheBentlerBonettnon
normedfitindex,theTuckerLewisindex,TLI,RHO2),NNFIis
similartoNFI,butpenalizesformodelcomplexity.NNFIisnot
guaranteedtovaryfrom0to1.Itisoneofthefitindexesless
affectedbysamplesize.NNFIcloseto1indicatesagoodfit.TLI
greaterthanorequalto0.9indicatesacceptablemodelfit.By
convention,NNFIvaluesbelow.90indicateaneedtorespecify
themodel.TLIlessthan0.9canusuallybeimproved
substantially.Someauthorshaveusedthemoreliberalcutoffof
.80sinceTLItendstorunlowerthanGFI.However,more
recently,HuandBentler(1999)havesuggestedNNFI>=.95as
thecutoffforagoodmodelfit.TLIisnotassociatedwithsample
size.NNFIisrecommendedforroutineuse.NNFIisamore
usefulindexthanNFI.HuandBentler(1998,1999)supportthe
continueduseofTLIbecauseTLIisrelativelyinsensitiveto
samplesizeTLIissensitivetomodelmissipecificationsis
relativelyinsensitivetoviolationsofassumptionsofmultivariate
normalityisrelativelyinsensitivetoestimationmethod
(maximumlikelihoodvsalternaitvemethods).RNIisgenerally
preferredoverTLI.
NTLI,NTLIisrecommendedforroutineuse.
RFI(relativefitindex,RHO1)isnotguaranteedtovaryfrom0to
1.RFIcloseto1indicatesagoodfit.NeithertheNFInortheRFI
arerecommendedforroutineuse.

ParsimonyAdjustedMeasuresmeasurespenalizeforlackof
parsimony.

PRATIO(parsimonyratio)
RMSEA(rootmeansquareerrorofapproximation),thereisgood
modelfitifRMSEAlessthanorequalto.05.Thereisadequate
fitifRMSEAislessthanorequalto.08.Morerecently,Huand
Bentler(1999)havesuggestedRMSEA<=.06asthecutofffora
goodmodelfit.RMSEAisapopularmeasureoffit.Lessthan.05
indicatesgoodfit,=0.0indicatesexactfit,from.08to.10
indicatesmediocrefit,greaterthan.10indicatespoorfit.
RMSEAisjudgedbyavalueof.05orlessasanindicationofa
goodfit.Avalueof.08orlessisindicativeofareasonable
errorofapproximationsuchthatamodelshouldnotbeusedifit
hasanRMSEAgreaterthan.1.HuandBentler(1995)suggested
valuesbelow.06indicategoodfit.TheRMSEAvaluesare
classifiedintofourcategories:closefit(.00.05),fairfit
(.05.08),mediocrefit(.08.10),andpoorfit(over.10).
RMSEAsmallerthan0.05indicatesgoodfit.RMSEAtendsto
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improveasweaddvariablestothemodel,expeciallywithlarger
samplesize.OnelimitationofRMSEAisthatitignoresthe
complexityofthemodel.Thelackoffitofthehypothesized
modeltothepopulationisknownastheerrorofapproximation.
TheRMSEAisastandardizedmeasureoferrorof
approximation.RMSEAvalueof.05orlessindicatesaclose
approximation,valuesofupto.08suggestsareasonablefitof
themodelinthepopulation.
PCLOSEteststhenullhypothesisthatRMSEAisnogreaterthan
.05.IfPCLOSEislessthan.05,werejectthenullhypothesis
andconcludethatthecomputedRMSEAisgreaterthan.05,
indicatinglackofaclosefit.
PGFI(parsimonygoodnessoffitindex)
PNFI(parsimonynormedfitindex),Thereisnocommonly
agreeduponcutoffvalueforanacceptablemodel.
PCFI(parsimonycomparativefitindex),Thereisnocommonly
agreeduponcutoffvalueforanacceptablemodel.

Absolutefitindexesdirectlyassesshowwellapriorimodel
reproducesthesampledata
Informationcriteriosnindex,goodnessoffitmeasuresbasedon
informationtheory(donothavecutoffslike.90or.95.Rathertheyare
usedincomparingmodels,withthelowervaluerepresentingthebetter
fit.)

CAK
CK
MCI(McDonald'scentralityindex)
CN(Hoelter'sctriticalN)
AIC(AkaikeInformationCriterion,singlesamplecross
validationindex),thelowertheAICmeasure,thebetterthefit.
AIC0,AMOSSpecificationSearchtoolbydefaultrescalesAICso
whencomparingmodels,thelowestAICcoefficientis0.Forthe
remainingmodels,AIC0<=2,nocredibleevidencethemodel
shouldberuledout24,weakevidencethemodelshouldbe
ruledout47,definiteevidence710strongevidence>10,
verystrongevidencethemodelshouldberuledout.
CAIC(ConsistentAIC),thelowertheCAICmeasure,thebetter
thefit.
BCC(BrowneCudeckcriterion,alsocalledtheCudeck&Browne
singlesamplecrossvalidationindex)Itshouldbecloseto.9to
considerfitgood.BCCpenalizesformodelcomplexity(lackof
parsimony)morethanAIC.
ECVI(Expectedcrossvalidationindex,singlesamplecross
validationindex),initsusualvariantisequivalenttoBCC,andis
usefulforcomparingnonnestedmodels,lowerECVIisbetterfit.
EVICcanbeusedtocomparenonnestedmodelsandallowsthe
determinationofwhichmodelwillcrossvalidatebestinanohter
sampleofthesamesizeandsimliarlyselected.Choosethemodel
thathasthelowestECVI.
MECVI,avariantonBCC,exceptforascalefactor,MECVIis
identicaltoBCC

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12/4/2017 theonlythingunchangedisChange:AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex

BIC(BayesianInformationCriterion,alsoknownasAkaike's
BayesianInformationCriterion(ABIC)andtheSchwarz
BayesianCriterion(SBC).comparedtoAIC,BCC,orCAIC,BIC
morestronglyfavorsparsimoniousmodelswithfewer
parameters.BICisrecommendedwhensamplesizeislargeor
thenumberofparametersinthemodelissmall.Recently,
however,thelimitationsofBIChavebeenhighlighted.
BIC0,theAMOSSpecificationSearchtoolbydefaultrescalesBIC
sowhencomparingmodels,thelowestBICcoefficientis0.For
theremainingmodels,theRaftery(1995)interpretationis:BIC0
<=2,weakevidencethemodelshouldberuledout24,positive
evidencethemovelshouldberuledout610,strongevidence>
10,verystrongevidencethemodelshouldberuledout.
BICp.BICcanberescaledsoAkaikeweights/Bayesfactorssum
to1.0.InAMOSSpecificationSearch,thisisdoneinacheckbox
underOptions,CurrentResultstab.BICpvaluesrepresent
estimatedposteriorprobabilitiesifthemodelshaveequalprior
probabilities.ThusifBICp=.60foramodel,itisthecorrect
modelwithaprobabilityof60%.ThesumofBICpvaluesforall
modelswillsumto100%,meaning100%probabilitythecorrect
modelisoneofthem,atrivialresultbutonewhichpointsoutthe
underlyingassumptionthatproperspecificationofthemodelis
oneofthedefaultmodelsintheset.Putanotherway,"correct
model"inthiscontextmeans"mostcorrectofthealternatives."
BICL.BICcanberescaledsoAkaikeweights/Bayesfactorshave
amaximumof1.0.InAMOSSpecificationSearch,thisisdone
inacheckboxunderOptions,CurrentResultstab.BICLvaluesof
.05orgreaterinmagnitudemaybeconsideredthemostprobable
modelsin"Occam'swindow,"amodelfilteringcriterion
advancedbyMadiganandRaftery(1994).
QuantileorQPlots
IES(Interactioneffectsize),IESisameasureofthemagnitudeof
aninteractioneffect(theeffectofaddinganinteractiontermto
themodel).InOLSregressionthiswouldbetheincremental
changeinRsquaredfromaddingtheinteractiontermtothe
equation.InSEM,IESisananalogouscriterionbasedonchi
squaregoodnessoffit.Recallthatthesmallerthechisquare,the
betterthemodelfit.IESisthepercentchisquareisreduced
(towardbetterfit)byaddingtheinteractionvariabletothe
model.

residualasameasureofoverallfit

residualisthedifferencebetweenthesamplematrix(S)and
populationmatrix().Standardizedresidualsareresidualsthat
havebeenstandardizedtohaveameanofzeroandastandard
deviationofone,makingthemeasiertointerpret.Standardized
residualslargerthanabsolutevalue2.0areconsideredtobe
suggestiveofalackoffit.

http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/structur.htm#extra
ct

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12/4/2017 theonlythingunchangedisChange:AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex

AlthoughAMOSprovidesaconsiderablybroaderrangeoffit
indexes,itdoesnotpermitaccesstotheinformationmatrixor
residualswithincompletedata.

P O S T ED B Y B EI NG AT 8: 01 P M

21CO MMENTS:

clivesaid...

Thanksforagreatsite.Asanewish(andlazy)userofSEMI've
beenlookingforagesforaclearandconciseoverviewofmodel
fitindices.

5 :5 6A M

ImamSalehsaid...

canIciteyoursiteonmypaper?
)
4:5 2A M

Amandeepsaid...

Hi,Iamimpressedbytherangeanddepthofyourwriting.I
cameacrossyourblogsearchingforAMOShelp.Adoctoral
student,Iamtestingamodelwithattitudesandbehavioursand
inneedofguidance.Ifitspossiblepleaseshareyouremail
addresssothatIcanwriteingreaterdetail.Thanks.
3:46A M

Anonymoussaid...

IwasreadingtheAMOShelptoperformtheSRMR,butitwas
impossible.Yougavemethesolution!Thankyou!
1 1 :48 A M

petesaid...
YourdiscussiononSRMRisbriliant!evenmanyauthorsof
Amostextbooksdontknowthat!
2:29P M

Poojasaid...
OitsawesomeIhavebeenoutofplacetilthetimeIreadthis.

Pooja
(IITD)
1 :37 A M

questsaid...

http://zencaroline.blogspot.in/2007/04/globalmodelfit.html 11/14
12/4/2017 theonlythingunchangedisChange:AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex

IfigotamodelwithRMSEA=0.1butnotpossibletogetthis
less,itriedtorefitthemodelbutcanonlydothatwitherror
correlation,whatwouldyousuggest
4:1 1 P M

beingsaid...

toquestcheckotherindexes
tootherpeopleyouhavethefreedomtocite,butIamnot
responsibleforanypossiblemistakesonthisblog.Thisblogis
justmystudynote.
8 :0 1 A M

Anonymoussaid...

Thankyoufortheinformation.Ihavebeensearchingforhow
togettheSRMRonAMOSwithnoluckuntilIreadyourpost.
1 1 :1 4A M

MasoodKalyarsaid...
Youdidreallyanexcellentandawsomework.Iwaslookingfor
acomprehensivearticleonmodelfitnessandafterthestruggle
ofseveraldaysifinallyexploredthissiteandreadthearticle
containsinvaluableinfomationatasinglepage.great.....!!!
Keepitonbuddy

2:30 A M

malkasaid...

Hithnksitsreallyveryinformative....btIhveanissuecminof
mydatais.096sohetoresolvedsIusedmaximumlikelihood
estimation.Plzdoreplyncanuquoteanyarticlereferingif
cmincanbtill1to5...

4:1 4P M

Andreassaid...

Greatsite.IneededonetextwrittenbyMarshformythesis.
5 :0 3P M

Anonymoussaid...

mychisqvalueis20,mysamplesizecontain120company
witheightfactorseachischisqvalueisokornot
1 1 :44A M

hubshanksaid...
Awesome.IhadnotnoticedthatThat1999paperbyHuand
BentlersuggestsanRMSEApvalue0.06ascutoffpointfor
goodfit!Myresearchfallbetween0.05and0.06.Thismakes
arguingabiteasier)

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12/4/2017 theonlythingunchangedisChange:AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex

1 :5 7 A M

MarekSkorsepasaid...

Isitpossibletocreatealistofreferencesyouusedinthis
article?Thankyou.
3:39A M

ramansaid...

HelloSir,

IamtryingtoimplementSEMinmyprojectwork.Thevalueof
CFIis0.487andRMRis=0.046.thevalueofCFIisveryless
whatdoesitindicatethemodelisrejcted?Whatshouldido.
Kindlyguide
3:48 A M

Anonymoussaid...

Areallfitindicesconsideredstandardized?Oronlythetwo
wherenotedabove?
5 :40 A M

Jeanettesaid...

Thispageis,byfar,themosthelpful,understandable,and
comprehensiveonlineresourceforCFAthatIhavefound(andI
havespentseveralhourssearching)!Thankyousomuchfor
helpinganallbutdissertation(ABD)doctoralpsychology
studentfinishthedissertation!!Rockon!
5 :42P M

ultraanizadosaid...

AbsolutelyfantasticWebseite,danke.Ijusthaveonequestion.
MyRMSEAis.055butthePCLOSEis.181sosincethePCLOSE
isnotbiggerthan0.5thatwouldmeanthatdespitehavingthe
RMSEAinthat"fairfitting"result,isnotvalid?
1 :1 5 P M

JoshM.said...

Hooperetal2008SEMFit,andHo2006StructuralEquation
Modelingaretwogreatresourcesforunderstandingmodelfit
indices.

Questcheckyourotherindices.Ifthemodellookslikeit
doesn'tfitthedata,tinkeringawayatitmightnotbethebest
option.Youmighthavetorevampyourmodel.

Chisquarevalue(CMIN)aloneisnotenoughtodeterminefit.

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12/4/2017 theonlythingunchangedisChange:AssesswholeSEMmodelchisquareandfitindex

Hell,theChiSquaretestisntevenenough.LookattheRelative
ChiSquarestatistic(X^2/df)andseeifitsintherangeof25
(fromwhatIremember).TheX^2testgetsscreweywithsample
size,sotoolargeortoosmallofNwillskewtheresultofthetest
drastically.IthinkthemagicnumberissomewherearoundN=
200.

HubshankYourRMSEAvaluelooksgood,butcheckyourother
indiciestodeterminefit.Therearecuttoffformost(ifnotall)of
thestandardizedfitindexes.Thecuttoffsaremorelike
guidelines,butthey'resomethingtocite.

UltraanizandoYourRMSEAvaluelooksgood,butcheckits
confidenceintervals.Youwanttheupperbound90%CItobe
lessthan.08andthelowerboundtobeverycloseto0.Noneof
thesecuttoffsaresetinstoneortheabsoluterulewhichleads
metoanimportantpointthatmostpeoplehereseemtomiss:

Theseindiciesshouldnotbeusedinisolation.Justbecuaseyou
haveoneindexthatsignifiesbadfit(evenhorriblefit)doesnot
meanyouhaveabadmodel.Youhavetotriangulatebetween
theindiciesknowingeachotherlimitations.IfyouhaveN=
100000youprobablydontwanttoputtoomuchstockinthe
outcomeofthex^2significancetest.Thekey,onceagain,isto
lookatmanyoftheindiciesknowingeachoftheirlimitations
andseeiftheonesthatshouldbelookinggoodarelooking
good.Therearemoreissuesthanjustmodelfit.Youdontwant
tomesswithsomethingtodeviateheavilyfromtheoryjusttofit
themodelbetter.MostofthatstuffisinthearticlesIcited.
1 0 :0 2P M

JoshM.said...
Alsocheckyourassumptionsofsem:randomsampling,
multivariatenormaldistribution,linearcorrelationbetween
eachendogenousandeachexogenousvariablebeingincluded
inthemodel,andindependenceofobvervations.Ifyour
variablesarenotlinearlyrelatedornormallydistributedthen
problemscanariseandSEMmaynotworkwell.

1 0 :0 7 P M

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