Bielby (1986) argues that conventional practices for normalizing latent variable models can lead the applied researcher astray. He presents two examples to show how this may occur. In the first example, he considers the regression of income on education. In the second, he considers a panel model...

Krauze and Slomczynski propose a mathematical treatment of the mobility table that they claim solves “the crucial methodological problem†in mobility research. We reject their definition of this problem, and we reject their solution. Their proposed solution (1) is not oriented toward...

Likert scales and bipolar adjective scales are often used to measure attitudes and opinions. To model the dependence of the scale on covariates, investigators typically (1) assign interval scores to scale categories, using these in regression analyses; (2) collapse categories to compare...

Sociologists routinely employ regression analysis and a variety of related statistical models to draw causal inferences from survey data. Typically, the parameters of the models are interpreted as effects that indicate the change in a dependent variable that would occur if one or more...

This article discusses total indirect effects in linear structural equation models. First, I define these effects. Second, I show how the delta method may be used to obtain the standard errors of the sample estimates of these effects and test hypotheses about the magnitudes of the indirect...

Typically, using data from a nonexperimental study, quantitative sociologists model one or more outcomes as a function of independent variables, interpreting the resulting parameter estimates as effects. This article compares the usual approach to causal inference in sociology with an...

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has facilitated major advances in understanding human brain function. Neuroscientists are interested in using fMRI to study the effects of external stimuli on brain activity and causal relationships among brain regions, but have not stated what is...