EQS Goes R: Simulations for SEM Using the Package REQS

Abstract

The REQS package is an interface between the R environment of statistical computing and the EQS software for structural equation modeling. The package consists of 3 main functions that read EQS script files and import the results into R, call EQS script files from R, and run EQS script files from R and import the results after EQS computations. The components a user needs are R and EQS. We give a short introduction to R and EQS, elaborate the functionalities of the package, and show how to use the package by means of several examples with special emphasis on simulations. The first simulation investigates the effects of nonnormal data on various test statistics. The second simulation conducts a power analysis for a path coefficient in a 2-group model.