手法を比較

	パス解析	媒介分析
分野	統計学	統計学
系統	Latent structure	Hypothesis test
提唱年	1921	1986
提唱者	Sewall Wright	Baron & Kenny
種類	Causal / mediation model	Indirect effects / path test
原典	Wright, S. (1921). Correlation and causation. Journal of Agricultural Research, 20(7), 557–585.	Baron, R. M. & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.
別名	PA, path coefficient analysis, observed-variable SEM, causal path modeling	indirect effects analysis, path-based mediation, PROCESS macro mediation, Aracılık Analizi (Mediation / PROCESS)
関連	5	5
概要	Path analysis tests a researcher-specified causal diagram among observed variables by decomposing their intercorrelations into direct effects, indirect (mediated) effects, and spurious associations. Developed by Sewall Wright in 1921, it is the observed-variable special case of structural equation modeling and remains a standard tool for theory-driven multivariate causal inference.	Mediation analysis is a statistical procedure that tests whether the effect of an independent variable X on an outcome Y operates wholly or partly through a third variable M, called the mediator. Formalised by Baron and Kenny in 1986, it decomposes the total effect of X on Y into a direct path (c′) and an indirect path (a × b), quantifying how much of the relationship is carried by the mediating mechanism.