SEM with networks - background
Network data can be integrated into the SEM framework in different ways. We focus on two main approaches here. The first approach extracts the information from a network based on each participant and then use that information as variable(s) in a SEM model. In this method, each participant (node) in the network is the basic unit for analysis. The second approach extracts information from a network based on each relationship present. In this method, each pair of participants or nodes are used as the basic unit for analysis.
In our software, we propose and implement four types of models.
Network nodes as analysis units
In this method, each participant is treated as the basic unit of analysis. Therefore, the sample size is equal the sample size $n$. We use two approaches here: (1) we extract information as network statistics from a network, and (2) we extract information through a latent space model.
Use network statistics