Research with diverse groups : research designs and multivariate latent modeling for equivalence / Antoinette Y. Farmer, G. Lawrence Farmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rodgers-Farmer, Antoinette Y., author.

Farmer, G. Lawrence, author.

Contributor:

UPSO (University Press Scholarship Online)

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Pocket guides to social work research methods

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social service--Research.

Social service.

Multiculturalism--Research.

Multiculturalism.

Multivariate analysis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 119 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2014]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Social work researches often conduct research with groups that are diverse in terms of gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnic background, or age. Consequently, social work researchers must take great care to establish research-design equivalence at all phases of the research process (e.g., problem formulation, research design, sampling, measurement selection, data collection, and data analysis). Otherwise, the results might reflect methodological flaws-rather than true group difference-and therefore lead to erroneous conclusions. This book introduced the methodological precautions that must be taken into consideration when conducting research with diverse groups. Multigroup Confirmatory Analysis (MG-CFA) using structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized to demonstrate how to assess seven types of measurement and structural equivalence that have been deemed importance for studies with diverse samples. A hypothetical example is provided to illustrate how to design a study with good research-design equivalence. The book also provides a case study to demonstrate how to conduct an MG-CFA, along with the Mplus syntax used to conduct the MG-CFA, for each type of measurement and structural equivalence discussed. This book is ideal for social work doctoral students; doctoral student from other disciplines, such as nursing and psychology; social work researchers; and social work educators who are committed to producing methodologically sound and valuable research that can lead to effective interventions and public policies for diverse groups. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

Diversity: Its Implications for Establishing Equivalence 3

Problem Formulation 3

Sampling Equivalence 3

Measurement Selection 4

African Americans 5

Hispanics 5

The Need to Consider Contextual Factors When Establishing Measurement Equivalence 7

Organization of the Book 8

Significance for Social Work 11

2 Research-Design Equivalence 13

Overview 13

Problem Formulation 13

Research Design 17

Sampling Equivalence 18

Measurement Selection 21

Data Collection 23

Data Analysis 25

Summary 25

3 Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis to Establish Measurement and Structural Equivalence 29

Overview 29

Measurement Equivalence Defined 30

Overview of Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis 32

Testing Measurement Equivalence Across Groups 34

Model 0: Separate Group Analysis 37

Model 1: Configural Equivalence 39

Model 2: Weak Metric Equivalence 40

Model 3: Strong (Scalar) Metric Equivalence 42

Model 4: Strict Metric (Error Variance and Covariance) Equivalence 43

Model 5: Equivalence of Factor Variance 44

Model 6: Equivalence of Factor Covariance 45

Model 7: Equivalence of Latent Means 45

Illustration 47

Distributional Analysis 48

Baseline Measurement Models 48

Separate Group Analysis 48

Hispanic and African American Males, Baseline Model Analysis 48

Hispanic and African American Females, Baseline Model Analysis 53

Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis 54

Model 1: Test of Configural Measurement Equivalence 54

Model 2: Test of Weak Metric Measurement Equivalence 60

Model 3: Test of Strong (Scalar) Metric Measurement Equivalence 64

Model 4: Test of Strict Metric (Error-Variance and Covariance) Equivalence 66

Error variance constraints 66

Common error covariance 69

Summary of the Results Assessing Measurement Equivalence 70

Model 5: Equivalence of Factor Variance 70

Model 6: Equivalence of Factor Covariance 72

Model 7: Testing for Latent Mean Invariance 76

Summary of the Results Testing for, Structural Equivalence 79

Summary 79

4 Hypothetical Case Illustration 81

Overview 81

Hypothetical Case Illustration 81

Summary 85

5 Conclusion 87

Qualitative Methods in Establishing Measurement Equivalence 87

The Challenges of Conducting Research to Establish Equivalence Using National Datasets 88

Future Directions 89

Social Work Doctoral Education 89.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Oxford Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9780190208967

0190208961

Publisher Number:

99967354251

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.