This allows to obtain behavioral equations involving only manifest variables, starting from models that contain also latent variables.
The proposed mediating variables and organizational attractiveness are manifest variables.
In figures, manifest variables are illustrated by rectangles and latent variables by ovals.
The latent variable Cultural capital was related to five manifest variables indicating cultural possessions.
Latent constructs are variables which cannot be measured directly rather measured by manifest variables.
The use of SEM has many benefits compared to an approach with manifest variables.
In the structural part of the SEM model, the causal and correlational relations among the latent trait, the manifest variables, and other latent or manifest variables (e.g., gender and attitudes toward reading) can therefore be tested.
In each model, a unidimensional latent variable (i.e., reading ability) predicted a set of manifest variables (i.e., reading items).
The approach has several advantages, among which is the ability to control the measurement errors in the manifest variables.
Fig. 2 Structural equation models to estimate a the Rasch model, b form effects, c passage position effects, and d item position effects (Note: In all figures, i stands for item; in b, f stands for manifest variables for form effects; in c, pp stands for manifest variables for passage position effects; and in d, ip stands for manifest variables for item position effects).
One of these topics is the process of measurement, in particular the measurement of latent variables on the basis of statistical facts about manifest variables.
