Tsaousis, I.; Jaffari, F.M. Identifying Bias in Social and Health Research: Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences Using the Alignment Approach. Mathematics2023, 11, 4007.
Tsaousis, I.; Jaffari, F.M. Identifying Bias in Social and Health Research: Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences Using the Alignment Approach. Mathematics 2023, 11, 4007.
Tsaousis, I.; Jaffari, F.M. Identifying Bias in Social and Health Research: Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences Using the Alignment Approach. Mathematics2023, 11, 4007.
Tsaousis, I.; Jaffari, F.M. Identifying Bias in Social and Health Research: Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences Using the Alignment Approach. Mathematics 2023, 11, 4007.
Abstract
The scope of this study was twofold: first, to introduce a new method in examining measurement invariance, especially with large-scale studies where a large number of group comparisons are involved: the alignment approach, where only configural invariance is necessary to achieve measurement invariance. Second, to evaluate the psychometric robustness of this approach using real-life data. Particularly, we applied this approach to examine whether the factor structure of a cognitive ability test (PGAT) exhibits measurement invariance across the 26 universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The sample consisted of 9,849 graduate students from 26 universities around the Kingdom. The results indicated a robust configural model suggesting that the P-GAT subscales were invariant across the 26 universities. Finally, the aligned factor mean values were estimated, and factor mean comparisons of every group’s mean with all other group means were conducted for both cognitive domains (Verbal and Quantitative). In both domains, King Saud University had the highest mean score among all universities. Moreover, its mean factor score was significantly higher than any other university besides Dammam University. On the other hand, several universities allocated at the northern and Southern borders of the country exhibited the lowest factor mean scores.
Copyright:
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