I agree that the Mitchell chapter in the Scheiner and Gurevitch book is good
(also see his paper in Functional Ecology 6:123-129). Ullman is another good
author, with a number of Structural Equation Model chapters in several
different books (usually stats books for psychology - like Tabachnick and
Fidell's Using Multivariate Statistics). However, I don't think you can do
justice to the strength, intricacies, and pitfalls of path analysis in a short
format. Why not encourage the student to really delve into the topic? I would
recommend Shipley's book (Cause and Correlation in Biology - one of my favorite
books and a quick read) along with Grace's book (Structural Equation Modeling
and Natural Systems - also a good read and a nice compliment to the Shipley
book) as starters and use these as springboards to doing analyses and getting
into the rich literature on the topic.
*******************************************************
Lee Dyer
Biology Dept. 0314
UNR 1664 N Virginia St
Reno, NV 89557
OR
585 Robin St
Reno, NV 89509
Email: nolaclim...@gmail.com
Web: www.caterpillars.org
phone: 504-220-9391 (cell)
775-784-1360 (office)
> Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:11:16 -0400
> From: gretelcla...@gmail.com
> Subject: [ECOLOG-L] chapters/texts on path analysis
> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
>
> Hi list,
>
> I am wondering if any of you know of a fairly comprehensive, but not too
> lengthy statistical explanation of path analysis. I have been reading CC
> Li's "Path Analysis- a primer", which I understand is the standard reference
> on the subject but am finding it long. It seems like the subject could be
> handled fairly thoroughly in more concise and yet still comprehensible way,
> and I am wondering if such a treatment exists. If not just for myself, I
> also need to find something to recommend to a (quantitatively minded)
> undergraduate on the subject, and she certainly will not have time to read
> the Li book.
>
> I have also found there is some coverage of the subject in the Quinn and
> Keough stats book, but I am wondering what else is out there.
>
> Thanks for any thoughts,
>
> Gretel Clarke
> PhD student, UVM
_________________________________________________________________
Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/196390709/direct/01/
