Country Effects in ISSP - 1993 Environmental Data : Comparison of Sem Approaches

Structural equation models (SEM) are commonly used to analyze the relationship between variables some of which may be latent, such as individual "attitude" to and "behavior" concerning specific issues. A number of difficulties arise when we want to compare a large number of groups, each with large sample size, and the manifest variables are distinctly non-normally distributed. Using an specific data set, we evaluate the appropriateness of the following alternative SEM approaches: multiple group versus MIMIC models, continuous versus ordinal variables estimation methods, and normal theory versus non-normal estimation methods. The approaches are applied to the ISSP-1993 Environmental data set, with the purpose of exploring variation in the mean level of variables of "attitude" to and "behavior" concerning environmental issues and their mutual relationship across countries. Issues of both theoretical and practical relevance arise in the course of this application