Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research

This accessible book has established itself as the go-to resource on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for its emphasis on practical and conceptual aspects rather than mathematics or formulas. Detailed, worked-through examples drawn from psychology, management, and sociology studies illustrate the procedures, pitfalls, and extensions of CFA methodology. The text shows how to formulate, program, and interpret CFA models using popular latent variable software packages (LISREL, Mplus, EQS, SAS/CALIS); understand the similarities and differences between CFA and exploratory factor analysis (EFA); and report results from a CFA study. It is filled with useful advice and tables that outline the procedures. The companion website offers data and program syntax files for most of the research examples, as well as links to CFA-related resources.

New to This Edition
*Updated throughout to incorporate important developments in latent variable modeling.
*Chapter on Bayesian CFA and multilevel measurement models.
*Addresses new topics (with examples): exploratory structural equation modeling, bifactor analysis, measurement invariance evaluation with categorical indicators, and a new method for scaling latent variables.
*Utilizes the latest versions of major latent variable software packages.

Timothy A. Brown, PsyD, is Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of Research at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University. He has published extensively in the areas of the classification of anxiety and mood disorders, the psychopathology and risk factors of emotional disorders, psychometrics, and applied research methods. In addition to conducting his own grant-supported research, Dr. Brown serves as a statistical investigator or consultant on numerous federally funded research projects. He has been on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including a longstanding appointment as Associate Editor of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.