An Ontology of Structural Equation Models with Application to Computer Self-Efficacy
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Structural equation models are widely used in IS research as they can accommodate both latent and manifest variables. Recent discussion has focused on the relationships between these latent and manifest variables in structural equation models. Despite repeated attempts to clarify the relationships and provide guidelines on their interpretation, there remains much confusion, as evidenced by the ongoing debate about the use of formative measures or formative items. In this paper, we address the topic from a fresh perspective, by establishing a clear separation of theoretical and statistical models, and by introducing the notions of system inputs and outputs. The paper explores the consequences of these principles for the relationships between latent and manifest variables using the computer self-efficacy (CSE) construct as an illustrative example. The novel ideas in modeling allow a fresh perspective on the CSE construct and a resolution of the ongoing debate about the nature of the construct.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.014 | 0.021 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.004 | 0.006 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.006 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.004 | 0.005 |
| Open science | 0.003 | 0.003 |
| Research integrity | 0.003 | 0.006 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".