Strategies of Path Analysis

Path analysis is a method for explicitly formulating theory, and attaching quantitative estimates to causal effects thought to exist on a priori grounds. There are four basic kinds of path models: recursive, block, block-recursive, and nonrecursive. Because some questions can be answered only under certain path analytic structures, the theoretical questions and research goals guide the selection of a particular model. Knowing what sorts of questions each model addresses, educational researchers will be in a better position to formulate hypotheses in model-specific terms. Four illustrations are provided, presenting strategies of analysis typical of each kind of model.