Establishing a common ground for the use of structural equation modelling for construction related research studies

Abstract

The use of structural equation modelling (SEM) for research studies in construction related field has been on the increase over the years. The essence of this study is not to compare the level of usage of SEM with other modelling methods, neither is it to examine its extent of adoption in construction management - as this has been researched in previous works - but to arrive at a common ground for future construction related research works, based on the findings and recommendations from existing studies on the subject of SEM. Research materials within and outside the field of construction management were reviewed and it was discovered that SEM using AMOS (covariance approach) is the most appropriate method for construction research studies. This is not just because it is the most available of the software programs, but because of the numerous benefits and advantages highlighted from previous studies. The study also recommended appropriate sample size as well as cut-off value for various required goodness-of-fit tests of SEM model.

Keywords

• Construction
• construction research
• goodness-of-fit measures
• software programs
• structural equation model
• structural equation modelling.