IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/somere/v36y2008i4p462-494.html

An Empirical Evaluation of the Use of Fixed Cutoff Points in RMSEA Test Statistic in Structural Equation Models

Author

Listed:
  • Feinian Chen

    (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC)

  • Patrick J. Curran

    (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

  • Kenneth A. Bollen

    (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

  • James Kirby

    (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, Rockville, MD)

  • Pamela Paxton

    (Ohio State University, Columbus)

Abstract

This article is an empirical evaluation of the choice of fixed cutoff points in assessing the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) test statistic as a measure of goodness-of-fit in Structural Equation Models. Using simulation data, the authors first examine whether there is any empirical evidence for the use of a universal cutoff, and then compare the practice of using the point estimate of the RMSEA alone versus that of using it jointly with its related confidence interval. The results of the study demonstrate that there is little empirical support for the use of .05 or any other value as universal cutoff values to determine adequate model fit, regardless of whether the point estimate is used alone or jointly with the confidence interval. The authors' analyses suggest that to achieve a certain level of power or Type I error rate, the choice of cutoff values depends on model specifications, degrees of freedom, and sample size.

Suggested Citation

  • Feinian Chen & Patrick J. Curran & Kenneth A. Bollen & James Kirby & Pamela Paxton, 2008. "An Empirical Evaluation of the Use of Fixed Cutoff Points in RMSEA Test Statistic in Structural Equation Models," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 36(4), pages 462-494, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:36:y:2008:i:4:p:462-494
    DOI: 10.1177/0049124108314720
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0049124108314720
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0049124108314720?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Steiger & Alexander Shapiro & Michael Browne, 1985. "On the multivariate asymptotic distribution of sequential Chi-square statistics," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 253-263, September.
    2. Yuan, Ke-Hai & Hayashi, Kentaro & Bentler, Peter M., 2007. "Normal theory likelihood ratio statistic for mean and covariance structure analysis under alternative hypotheses," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(6), pages 1262-1282, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Calver, Stephen J. & Page, Stephen J., 2013. "Enlightened hedonism: Exploring the relationship of service value, visitor knowledge and interest, to visitor enjoyment at heritage attractions," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 23-36.
    2. Weiping Jiang & Xianbo Zhao & Jiongbin Ni, 2017. "The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Employee Sustainable Performance: The Mediating Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Tser-Yieth Chen & Chi-Jui Huang, 2019. "Dual Pathways of Value Endorsement in Green Marketing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Zewdie, Markose Chekol & Van Passel, Steven & Cools, Jan & Tenessa, Daregot Berihun & Ayele, Zemen Ayalew & Tsegaye, Enyew Adgo & Minale, Amare Sewnet & Nyssen, Jan, 2019. "Direct and indirect effect of irrigation water availability on crop revenue in northwest Ethiopia: A structural equation model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 27-35.
    5. Fogarty, Timothy J. & Zimmerman, Aleksandra B. & Richardson, Vernon J., 2016. "What do we mean by accounting program quality? A decomposition of accounting faculty opinions," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 16-42.
    6. Labrecque, Lauren I., 2014. "Fostering Consumer–Brand Relationships in Social Media Environments: The Role of Parasocial Interaction," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 134-148.
    7. Müller, Dirk, 2010. "Alliance Coordination, Dysfunctions, and the Protection of Idiosyncratic Knowledge in Strategic Learning Alliances," EconStor Preprints 41039, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. Must, Olev & Must, Aasa, 2018. "Speed and the Flynn Effect," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 37-47.
    9. Swoboda, Bernhard & Berg, Bettina & Schramm-Klein, Hanna & Foscht, Thomas, 2013. "The importance of retail brand equity and store accessibility for store loyalty in local competition," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 251-262.
    10. Bojuwon MUSTAPHA, 2018. "Assessing the Reliability and Validity of Online Tax System Determinants: Using A Confirmatory Factor Analysis," Computational Methods in Social Sciences (CMSS), "Nicolae Titulescu" University of Bucharest, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 6(1), pages 13-22, June.
    11. Weiping Jiang & Xianbo Zhao & Jian Zuo, 2017. "(Dis)Trust, Control, and Project Success: From a Chinese Project Owner’s Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-16, October.
    12. Rossana Guerra Sousa & Edilson Paulo & João Marôco, 2017. "Longitudinal Factor Analysis of Public Expenditure Composition and Human Development in Brazil After the 1988 Constitution," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 1009-1026, December.
    13. Forthmann, Boris & Jendryczko, David & Scharfen, Jana & Kleinkorres, Ruben & Benedek, Mathias & Holling, Heinz, 2019. "Creative ideation, broad retrieval ability, and processing speed: A confirmatory study of nested cognitive abilities," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 59-72.
    14. Noni Zaharia & Simon Brandon-Lai & Jeffrey James, 2017. "Show Me the Money: On Predicting Actual Purchases in Cross-National Sponsorship," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(4), pages 38-53, August.
    15. Noni Zaharia & Kurt C. Mayer Jr. & Eric Hungenberg & Dianna Gray & David Stotlar, 2016. "Is Sport Sponsorship Global? Evidence from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(3), pages 43-57, June.
    16. Alberto Maydeu-Olivares, 2017. "Assessing the Size of Model Misfit in Structural Equation Models," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 82(3), pages 533-558, September.
    17. Ogasawara, Haruhiko, 2017. "Expected predictive least squares for model selection in covariance structures," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 151-164.
    18. Nicolas Gillet & Evelyne Fouquereau & Robert J. Vallerand & Jocelyne Abraham & Philippe Colombat, 2018. "The Role of Workers’ Motivational Profiles in Affective and Organizational Factors," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1151-1174, April.
    19. Ogasawara, Haruhiko, 2016. "Bias correction of the Akaike information criterion in factor analysis," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 144-159.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fetene B. Tekle & Dereje W. Gudicha & Jeroen K. Vermunt, 2016. "Power analysis for the bootstrap likelihood ratio test for the number of classes in latent class models," Advances in Data Analysis and Classification, Springer;German Classification Society - Gesellschaft für Klassifikation (GfKl);Japanese Classification Society (JCS);Classification and Data Analysis Group of the Italian Statistical Society (CLADAG);International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS), vol. 10(2), pages 209-224, June.
    2. Hao Wu & Michael Browne, 2015. "Random Model Discrepancy: Interpretations and Technicalities (A Rejoinder)," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 80(3), pages 619-624, September.
    3. Siu, Noel Yee-Man & Zhang, Tracy Jun-Feng & Dong, Ping & Kwan, Ho-Yan, 2013. "New service bonds and customer value in customer relationship management: The case of museum visitors," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 293-303.
    4. Yuan, Ke-Hai & Chan, Wai, 2008. "Structural equation modeling with near singular covariance matrices," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 52(10), pages 4842-4858, June.
    5. Diego Rodrigues Boente & Paulo Roberto B. Lustosa, 2019. "Efficiency of electricity distribution companies," RAUSP Management Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 55(2), pages 177-193, September.
    6. Linda Edelman & Helena Yli–Renko, 2010. "The Impact of Environment and Entrepreneurial Perceptions on Venture-Creation Efforts: Bridging the Discovery and Creation Views of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(5), pages 833-856, September.
    7. Chun, So Yeon & Alexander, Shapiro, 2009. "Normal versus Noncentral Chi-square Asymptotics of Misspecified Models," MPRA Paper 17310, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. J. M. Santos & H. Horta & H. Luna, 2022. "The relationship between academics’ strategic research agendas and their preferences for basic research, applied research, or experimental development," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(7), pages 4191-4225, July.
    9. Luengo, María Jesús & Obeso, María, 2013. "Efeito da hélice tríplice em desempenho de inovação," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 53(4), July.
    10. Randi Hammervold & Ulf Olsson, 2012. "Testing structural equation models: the impact of error variances in the data generating process," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 1547-1570, August.
    11. Yli-Renko, H. & Autio, E. & Tontti, V., 2002. "Social capital, knowledge, and the international growth of technology-based new firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 279-304, June.
    12. Dirk Lubbe, 2023. "Advantages of Using Unweighted Approximation Error Measures for Model Fit Assessment," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 413-433, June.
    13. Jinshu Cui & Heather Rosoff & Richard S. John, 2018. "Public Response to a Near‐Miss Nuclear Accident Scenario Varying in Causal Attributions and Outcome Uncertainty," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(5), pages 947-961, May.
    14. Martin Kroh, 2006. "An Experimental Evaluation of Popular Well-Being Measures," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 546, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    15. Joni Salminen & Lene Nielsen & Malik Bahloul & Rasmus Grønlund Jørgensen & João M. Santos & Soon-Gyo Jung & Bernard J. Jansen, 2024. "Persona preparedness: a survey instrument for measuring the organizational readiness for deploying personas," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 173-198, June.
    16. Scholderer, Joachim & Grunert, Klaus G., 2005. "Consumers, food and convenience: The long way from resource constraints to actual consumption patterns," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 105-128, February.
    17. Hugo Horta & João M. Santos, 2016. "An instrument to measure individuals’ research agenda setting: the multi-dimensional research agendas inventory," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(3), pages 1243-1265, September.
    18. Gignac, Gilles E. & Kretzschmar, André, 2017. "Evaluating dimensional distinctness with correlated-factor models: Limitations and suggestions," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 138-147.
    19. Ke-Hai Yuan & Peter Bentler, 2006. "Mean Comparison: Manifest Variable Versus Latent Variable," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 71(1), pages 139-159, March.
    20. Michael W. Browne & Robert Cudeck, 1992. "Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 21(2), pages 230-258, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:36:y:2008:i:4:p:462-494. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.