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The package semptools (CRAN page)
contains functions that post-process an output from
semPlot::semPaths()
, to help users to customize the
appearance of the graphs generated by semPlot::semPaths()
.
For the introduction to functions for doing very specific tasks, such as
moving the parameter estimate of a path or rotating the residual of a
variable, please refer to vignette("semptools")
. The
present guide focuses on how to use set_sem_layout()
to
configure various aspects of a semPaths
graph generated for
a typical structural equation model (SEM) with latent factors. For
configuring the layout of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model
with no structural path between factors, please refer to the
vignette("quick_start_cfa")
.
semPaths
GraphLet us consider an SEM model. We will use sem_example
, a
sample CFA dataset from semptools with 14 variables for
illustration.
library(semptools)
head(round(sem_example, 3), 3)
#> x01 x02 x03 x04 x05 x06 x07 x08 x09 x10 x11
#> 1 2.861 2.289 3.381 0.191 0.095 -0.395 -0.060 1.320 2.807 2.330 2.069
#> 2 -0.246 -1.299 -0.371 2.232 -0.419 -0.565 -0.162 3.050 1.513 1.777 2.991
#> 3 0.079 0.067 0.323 -3.043 -1.093 -0.626 -1.961 -4.908 -2.048 -3.190 1.403
#> x12 x13 x14
#> 1 0.569 -0.808 1.989
#> 2 2.125 0.767 1.539
#> 3 1.888 1.356 1.107
This is the SEM model to be fitted:
<-
mod 'f1 =~ x01 + x02 + x03
f2 =~ x04 + x05 + x06 + x07
f3 =~ x08 + x09 + x10
f4 =~ x11 + x12 + x13 + x14
f3 ~ f1 + f2
f4 ~ f1 + f3
'
Fitting the model using lavaan::sem()
:
library(lavaan)
<- lavaan::sem(mod, cfa_example) fit
This is the plot from semPaths
:
library(semPlot)
<- semPaths(fit, whatLabels="est",
p sizeMan = 5,
node.width = 1,
edge.label.cex = .75,
style = "ram",
mar = c(5, 5, 5, 5))
We will see how set_sem_layout()
can be used to do the
following tasks to post-process the graph:
Change the order of the indicators.
Assign factors to indicators manually.
Specify how to set the approximate positions of the factors.
Specify how to place the indicators of a factor.
Adjust the placement of the indicators relative to their corresponding factors.
Move the loadings along the paths from factors to indicators.
This section describes how to set the order of the indicators, assign them to factors, and specify the approximate positions of the factors.
Suppose we want to do this:
We would like to assign the indicators to the factors this way:
x04
, x05
, x06
, and
x07
for f2
.
x01
, x02
, and x03
for
f1
.
x11
, x12
, x13
, and
x14
for f4
.
x08
, x09
, and x10
for
f3
.
To do this, we create two vectors, one for the argument
indicator_order
and the other for the argument
indicator_factor
.
indicator_order
is a string vector with length equal to
the number of indicators, with the desired order if the indicators are
placed above the corresponding factors. In this example, it
will be like this:<- c("x04", "x05", "x06", "x07",
indicator_order "x01", "x02", "x03",
"x11", "x12", "x13", "x14",
"x08", "x09", "x10")
indicator_factor
is a string vector with length equal
to the number of indicators. The elements are the names of the latent
factors, denoting which factor each indicator will be assigned to:<- c( "f2", "f2", "f2", "f2",
indicator_factor "f1", "f1", "f1",
"f4", "f4", "f4", "f4",
"f3", "f3", "f3")
To specify the locations of the factors, we need two more arguments,
factor_layout
and factor_point_to
.
factor_layout
is a matrix of arbitrary size, with either
NA
or the name of a factor. For example:
<- matrix(c("f1", NA, NA,
factor_layout NA, "f3", "f4",
"f2", NA, NA), byrow = TRUE, 3, 3)
This sets up a 3-by-3 grid, with f1
on the top left,
f2
on the bottom left, f3
in the center, and
f4
on the right of f3
. Each factor must be in
one and only one cell of this matrix.
Note that a column or row can contain only NA
, to
increase the vertical or horizontal distance between factors.
The helper function layout_matrix()
can also be used to
create the matrix to be used in factor_layout
(see
vignette("layout_matrix")
on how to use
layout_matrix()
):
<- layout_matrix(f1 = c(1, 1),
factor_layout f2 = c(3, 1),
f3 = c(2, 2),
f4 = c(2, 3))
factor_layout#> [,1] [,2] [,3]
#> [1,] "f1" NA NA
#> [2,] NA "f3" "f4"
#> [3,] "f2" NA NA
factor_point_to
is a matrix of the size as
factor_layout
, with either NA
or one of these:
“down”, “left”, “up”, or “right”, to indicate the direction that a
factor “points to” its indicator. For example:
<- matrix(c("left", NA, NA,
factor_point_to NA, "down", "down",
"left", NA, NA), byrow = TRUE, 3, 3)
f1
and f2
will point to the left (i.e.,
indicators on the left), f3
and f4
will point
downwards.
layout_matrix()
can also be used to create this
matrix:
<- layout_matrix(left = c(1, 1),
factor_point_to left = c(3, 1),
down = c(2, 2),
down = c(2, 3))
factor_point_to#> [,1] [,2] [,3]
#> [1,] "left" NA NA
#> [2,] NA "down" "down"
#> [3,] "left" NA NA
In sum, the set_sem_layout()
function needs at least
these arguments:
semPaths_plot
: The semPaths
plot.
indicator_order
: The vector for the order of
indicators.
indicator_factor
: The vector for assigning
indicators to latent factors.
factor_layout
: The position of the factors on a
grid.
factor_point_to
: The placement of the
indicators.
They do not have to be named if they are in this order.
We now use set_sem_layout()
to post-process the
graph:
<- set_sem_layout(p,
p2 indicator_order = indicator_order,
indicator_factor = indicator_factor,
factor_layout = factor_layout,
factor_point_to = factor_point_to)
plot(p2)
The placement of the indicators are too close to the indicators and to neighboring indicators. We can adjust the relative position in two ways.
We can use the argument indicator_push
to push the
indicators of a factor away from it. The argument needs a named vector.
The name is the factor of which the indictors will be “pushed”, and the
value is how “hard” the push is: the multiplier to the distance from the
factor to the indicators. For example:
<- c(f3 = 2,
indicator_push f4 = 1.5,
f1 = 1.5,
f2 = 1.5)
This vector will double the distance between the indicators of
f3
and their factors, and multiply the distance between the
indicators of f4
, f1
, and f2
and
their factors by 1.5. If push
is less than 1, the
indicators will be “pulled” towards their factors.
<- set_sem_layout(p,
p2 indicator_order = indicator_order,
indicator_factor = indicator_factor,
factor_layout = factor_layout,
factor_point_to = factor_point_to,
indicator_push = indicator_push)
plot(p2)
We can use the argument indicator_spread
to spread out
the indicators of a factor, increasing the distance between the
indicators. The argument needs a named vector. The name is the factor of
which the indicators will be spread out. The value is the multiplier to
the distance between neighboring indicators. For example:
<- c(f1 = 2,
indicator_spread f2 = 1.5,
f4 = 1.5)
This vector will double the distance between the indicators of
f1
, and multiply the distance between the indicators of
f2
and f4
. and its indicators by 1.5. If
spread
is less than 1, the indicators will be squeezed
towards each others.
<- set_sem_layout(p,
p2 indicator_order = indicator_order,
indicator_factor = indicator_factor,
factor_layout = factor_layout,
factor_point_to = factor_point_to,
indicator_push = indicator_push,
indicator_spread = indicator_spread)
plot(p2)
We can move the loadings of indicators along the paths by the
argument loading_position
. If we supply one single number,
from 0 to 1, this number will be used for the position of all loadings.
A value of .5 place the loadings on the middle of the paths. Larger the
value, closer the loadings to the indicators. Smaller the value, closer
the loadings to the factors.
We can also use a named vector to specify the positions of indicators for each factor.In each element, the name if the factor whose loadings will be moved. The value is the positions of its loadings. The default is .50. We only need to specify the positions for factors to be changed from .50 to other values. For example:
<- c(f2 = .7,
loading_position f3 = .8,
f4 = .8)
<- set_sem_layout(p,
p2 indicator_order = indicator_order,
indicator_factor = indicator_factor,
factor_layout = factor_layout,
factor_point_to = factor_point_to,
indicator_push = indicator_push,
indicator_spread = indicator_spread,
loading_position = loading_position)
plot(p2)
Like other functions in semptools
, the
set_sem_layout()
function can be chained with other
functions using the pipe operator, %>%
, from the package
magrittr
, or the native pipe operator |>
available since R 4.1.x. Suppose we want to mark the significant test
results for the free parameters using mark_sig()
, and use
set_curve()
to change the curvature of
f1 ~~ f2
covariances and f4 ~ f1
paths (we
push and spread some indicators to make room for the asterisks, and
change the orientation of f4
to up
):
# If R version >= 4.1.0
<- set_sem_layout(p,
p2 indicator_order = indicator_order,
indicator_factor = indicator_factor,
factor_layout = factor_layout,
factor_point_to = factor_point_to,
indicator_push = indicator_push,
indicator_spread = indicator_spread,
loading_position = loading_position) |>
set_curve(c("f2 ~~ f1" = -1,
"f4 ~ f1" = 1.5)) |>
mark_sig(fit)
plot(p2)
These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.