[Forum SIS] Workshop prof. KENNETH A. BOLLEN (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) - BOLOGNA, 09/15/2015

[Silvia Bianconcini]

Apologies for cross-posting
*********************************************************
DIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE STATISTICHE
Universita' degli Studi di Bologna
Via delle Belle Arti, 41 - 40126 Bologna
*********************************************************

Workshop on "Instrumental Variables in the Social and Behavioral Sciences"

Prof. KENNETH A. BOLLEN
Departments of Psychology and Sociology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Tuesday September 15, 2015
11.00-13.00 : Overview on Instrumental Variables.
14.00-16.00: MIIVsem: an R package for estimating SEM with Instrumental Variables. 

Abstract: 
Instrumental variable (IV) methods provide a powerful but underutilized tool to address many common problems with observational data. Key to their successful use is having IVs that are uncorrelated with an equation’s disturbance and that are sufficiently strongly related to the problematic endogenous covariates. This presentation will briefly define
IVs, summarize their origins, and describe their use in multiple regression, simultaneous equation models, factor analysis, latent variable structural equation models, and limited dependent variable models. I will define and contrast three methods of selecting IVs: auxiliary instrumental variable, model implied instrumental variable, and randomized instrumental variable. Also discussed are overidentification tests and weak IV diagnostics as methods to evaluate the quality of IVs. I will review the use of IVs in models that assume heterogeneous causal effects. My concluding remarks will suggest ways to improve the use of IVs. The MIIVsem R package will be introduced with examples of input and output.


Anyone interested is invited to participate.

Silvia Bianconcini
Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche 
Università di Bologna
Via delle Belle Arti 41 - 40126 Bologna, ITALY
tel: +39 051 2098257 fax: +39 051 232153
skype: silviabi2
e-mail: silvia.bianconcini at unibo.it