Multilevel SEM with complex sampling

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No user picture. yoosoo Joined: 06/19/2014
Dear all,

Would you confirm if OpenMx supports multilevel SEM on complex sampling survey data, with categorical outcome? (each datapoint has different weight)

Thank you!

Replied on Mon, 09/29/2014 - 18:26
Picture of user. mhunter Joined: 07/31/2009

I would say yes and no to this question. OpenMx supports ordinal data, complex sampling survey data, and user-specified fit functions. Ordinal data is supported by use of thresholds: http://openmx.psyc.virginia.edu/docs/openmx/latest/Ordinal_Path.html. Complex sampling survey data is supported by integration of sampling weights: http://openmx.psyc.virginia.edu/thread/3661. Some multilevel modeling is possible by use by "Wide" data formats. Latent Growth Curves are a typical example of using wide data to construct a multilevel model in a SEM program.

It would certainly be possible to put together an example using sampling weights, ordinal data, and a limited amount of multilevel structure. However, OpenMx does not currently have built-in features that make multilevel modeling particularly convenient. These are currently under active development by the OpenMx team.

I hope this answers your question.