Measurement Invariance: on initial CFA or revised CFA?

[nnhartma]

Hello:

I am testing for measurement invariance across two groups. Do I need to run measurement invariance on the initial CFA or revised CFA model? I understand how to run the measurement invariance test as well as how to interpret it.

Looking at the literature across various fields as well as several SEM texts leads me to believe that I should do a CFA for each group separately and then test the final CFA models for each group for measurement invariance. However, I am working with a 9 latent factor model which has approximately 40 items. Intuition tells me that in larger models we will always fail to find invariance (there are always items that need to be deleted IMO).

Thank you for your help.
Best!

[David Marso]

This is *really* *NOT* an SPSS question.
You may have better luck on the SEM list.
SEMNET: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/semnet.html

nnhartma wrote

Hello:

I am testing for measurement invariance across two groups. Do I need to run measurement invariance on the initial CFA or revised CFA model? I understand how to run the measurement invariance test as well as how to interpret it.

Looking at the literature across various fields as well as several SEM texts leads me to believe that I should do a CFA for each group separately and then test the final CFA models for each group for measurement invariance. However, I am working with a 9 latent factor model which has approximately 40 items. Intuition tells me that in larger models we will always fail to find invariance (there are always items that need to be deleted IMO).

Thank you for your help.
Best!

[Susan Maree Cotton]

Seasons Greetings!  I am currently on leave until the 17th January and will not be looking at emails during this time.  If it is urgent, please email me on the 17th January. 

[Art Kendall]

I concur with David that you would be better off going to an SEM group. However, you should give them a more detailed question to react to.

However, how did you come up with the number of factors to retain?  Was this a pre-existing instrument?
Was the first factor analysis in fact an exploratory analysis?

How was the set of items selected?  Was there already a scoring key?
What is the response scale for the items?

Would I be correct in guessing that  the Kaiser criterion was used for the number of factors to retain? 

On 4/9/2012 8:15 PM, nnhartma wrote:

Hello:

I am testing for measurement invariance across two groups. Do I need to run
measurement invariance on the initial CFA or revised CFA model? I understand
how to run the measurement invariance test as well as how to interpret it.

Looking at the literature across various fields as well as several SEM texts
leads me to believe that I should do a CFA for each group separately and
then test the final CFA models for each group for measurement invariance.
However, I am working with a 9 latent factor model which has approximately
40 items. Intuition tells me that in larger models we will always fail to
find invariance (there are always items that need to be deleted IMO).

Thank you for your help.
Best!


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[Swank, Paul R]

It doesn't do any good to test invariance on an ill-fitting model. You wish the model allowing invariance to fit the data.

Dr. Paul R. Swank,
Children's Learning Institute
Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School
Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health
University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston


-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of nnhartma
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 7:16 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Measurement Invariance: on initial CFA or revised CFA?

Hello:

I am testing for measurement invariance across two groups. Do I need to run
measurement invariance on the initial CFA or revised CFA model? I understand
how to run the measurement invariance test as well as how to interpret it.

Looking at the literature across various fields as well as several SEM texts
leads me to believe that I should do a CFA for each group separately and
then test the final CFA models for each group for measurement invariance.
However, I am working with a 9 latent factor model which has approximately
40 items. Intuition tells me that in larger models we will always fail to
find invariance (there are always items that need to be deleted IMO).

Thank you for your help.
Best!


--
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[nnhartma]

The following link also provides a discussion that may be helpful to anyone in the future who comes across this  thread: http://www.uwosh.edu/cob/faculty-and-staff/faculty/individual-pages/alexandrov/pdf-aliosha_alexandrov/Alexandrov-%20Babakus-%20Yacas%20-2007.PDF

Thank you for the comments and help. I found Jason's paper to be extremely helpful and detailed. Thanks again!