Arbitrary Metrics in Multiple-Indicator Models of Latent Variables

William T. Bielby
Additional contact information
William T. Bielby: University of California, Santa Barbara

Sociological Methods & Research, 1986, vol. 15, issue 1-2, 3-23

Abstract: It is well known that only ratios of lambda coefficients are identified from moments among measured variables in most covariance structure models with latent variables. Typically, researchers establish a metric for latent variables by fixing the lambda coefficient for an arbitrarily selected reference indicator. This paper demonstrates that this practice can produce arbitrary calibration of latent variables, undermine interpretation of metric parameters, and lead to invalid cross-population comparisons. The problem is illustrated with hypothetical examples. Analytical results are derived, and implications for sociological research are discussed.

Date: 1986
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0049124186015001001 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:somere:v:15:y:1986:i:1-2:p:3-23

DOI: 10.1177/0049124186015001001

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sociological Methods & Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().