Pathelemzés

Pathelemzés is a Hungarian term that translates to "path analysis" in English. It is a statistical technique used to examine the relationships between variables. Specifically, path analysis is a method for testing causal models that are represented by a set of hypothesized direct and indirect effects between variables. It is a special case of structural equation modeling (SEM) where all variables are assumed to be measured without error.

The core idea behind path analysis is to represent the hypothesized causal relationships between variables as a diagram, often called a path diagram. In this diagram, variables are represented by circles or boxes, and the hypothesized causal relationships are represented by arrows. Direct effects are depicted by single-headed arrows pointing from one variable to another, indicating that one variable is believed to directly influence the other. Indirect effects are inferred through a series of direct effects, where a variable influences a second variable, which in turn influences a third variable.

Path analysis involves estimating the strength of these hypothesized relationships by analyzing correlations between the observed variables. The model is then evaluated by comparing the correlations predicted by the model with the observed correlations. If the model fits the data well, it suggests that the hypothesized causal structure is plausible. However, path analysis cannot prove causality; it can only provide evidence for or against a hypothesized causal model based on correlational data. It is a powerful tool for understanding complex relationships among multiple variables and for testing theoretical models of how these variables interact.