How to Use Structural Equation Modeling in Medical Education Research: A Brief Guide

Background: Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a family of statistical techniques used for the analysis of multivariate data to measure latent variables and their interrelationships. SEM has potential to advance theory and research in medical education. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to introduce SEM to medical education researchers and provide procedural information for applying SEM. Methods: We outline the basic tenets of SEM, principles of model creation, identification, estimation, and model fit to data, and the use of SEM in medical education research. Results: Although it is a powerful statistical research tool, SEM has had only limited use in medical education research. We explicate a five-step procedure for applying SEM to research problems and summarize an example of SEM to test a hypothetical model. Conclusions: Notwithstanding some pitfalls, SEM does provide promise for testing complex, integrated theoretical models and advance research in medical education.