方法对比

	结构方程模型 (SEM)	探索性因子分析（EFA）	中介分析	多层模型
领域	统计学	统计学	统计学	研究统计学
方法族	Latent structure	Latent structure	Hypothesis test	Process / pipeline
起源年份	1970	—	1986	1992
提出者	Karl Jöreskog (LISREL framework, 1970s)	—	Baron & Kenny	Anthony Bryk and Stephen Raudenbush
类型	Latent variable / causal modeling	Latent variable / dimension reduction	Indirect effects / path test	Method
开创性文献	Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate Data Analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN: 978-1473756540	Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C. & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4(3), 272–299.	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.	Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1992). Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods. SAGE Publications.
别名	Yapısal Eşitlik Modellemesi (SEM), structural equation modelling, covariance structure analysis, latent variable modeling	common factor analysis, açımlayıcı faktör analizi, factor analysis	indirect effects analysis, path-based mediation, PROCESS macro mediation, Aracılık Analizi (Mediation / PROCESS)	HLM, mixed-effects models, random effects models, MLM
相关	5	4	5	3
摘要	Structural equation modeling is a multivariate statistical framework that simultaneously estimates a measurement model — relating observed indicators to latent constructs — and a structural model specifying directional or reciprocal relationships among those constructs. Rooted in the LISREL tradition developed by Karl Jöreskog in the 1970s, SEM is the standard tool for testing complex theoretical models in the social, behavioural, and management sciences.	Exploratory factor analysis reduces a large set of observed variables into a smaller number of latent common factors. It is widely used in scale development and psychometrics to uncover the dimensional structure that underlies a set of correlated items, without specifying that structure in advance.	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.	Multilevel modeling (also called hierarchical linear modeling, mixed-effects modeling) is a statistical framework for analyzing data organized in nested or clustered structures—students within schools, patients within hospitals, repeated measures within individuals. Developed by Bryk and Raudenbush (1992), it accounts for dependency among observations and partitions variance into levels (within-cluster and between-cluster), enabling valid inference and revealing context effects. Essential in education, medicine, organizational research, and any field where data have natural hierarchies.