The importance of considering alternative structural equation models in evaluation research.

The availability of the LISREL computer program and similar software (for example, COSAN, EQS) have made structural equation modeling accessible to researchers interested in program evaluation. An article was published in the December 1985 issue of this journal that used LISREL to investigate the relationship between family medicine residents' moral reasoning and their clinical performance with patients (Sheehan et al., 1985). We present a reanalysis of the data from that study to illustrate the importance of considering alternative structural equation models in evaluation research.