CONTROL OF TYPE-I ERRORS WITH MULTIPLE TESTS OF CONSTRAINTS IN STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING

Two contrasting views toward the evaluation of multiple tests of const raints and control of Type I errors in structural equation modeling ar e presented. (a) Exploring data helps researchers make decisions about inclusion of relevant model parameters and control of Type I errors h inders this process. (b) Exploring data is not likely to yield meaning ful models unless we can limit the process on the basis of methods and theory, and controlling Type I errors is a useful device to force us to limit our searches. Also, in evaluating multiple tests of constrain ts for applications other than exploratory analyses, we should control for Type I errors as we do in testing multiple comparisons in analysi s of variance. We argue for the second perspective and present example s to illustrate methods for controlling Type I errors when making mode l comparisons.