Mplus Users Guide v6.. - Muthén & Muthén

Examples: Multilevel Modeling With Complex Survey DataCHAPTER 9EXAMPLES: MULTILEVELMODELING WITH COMPLEXSURVEY DATAComplex survey data refers to data obtained by stratification, clustersampling and/or sampling with an unequal probability of selection.Complex survey data are also referred to as multilevel or hierarchicaldata. For an overview, see Muthén and Satorra (1995). There are twoapproaches to the analysis of complex survey data in Mplus.One approach is to compute standard errors and a chi-square test ofmodel fit taking into account stratification, non-independence ofobservations due to cluster sampling, and/or unequal probability ofselection. Subpopulation analysis is also available. With samplingweights, parameters are estimated by maximizing a weightedloglikelihood function. Standard error computations use a sandwichestimator. This approach can be obtained by specifyingTYPE=COMPLEX in the ANALYSIS command in conjunction with theSTRATIFICATION, CLUSTER, WEIGHT, and/or SUBPOPULATIONoptions of the VARIABLE command. Observed outcome variables canbe continuous, censored, binary, ordered categorical (ordinal), unorderedcategorical (nominal), counts, or combinations of these variable types.The implementation of these methods in Mplus is discussed inAsparouhov (2005, 2006) and Asparouhov and Muthén (2005, 2006a).A second approach is to specify a model for each level of the multileveldata thereby modeling the non-independence of observations due tocluster sampling. This is commonly referred to as multilevel modeling.The use of sampling weights in the estimation of parameters, standarderrors, and the chi-square test of model fit is allowed. Both individualleveland cluster-level weights can be used. With sampling weights,parameters are estimated by maximizing a weighted loglikelihoodfunction. Standard error computations use a sandwich estimator. Thisapproach can be obtained by specifying TYPE=TWOLEVEL in theANALYSIS command in conjunction with the CLUSTER, WEIGHT,WTSCALE, BWEIGHT, and/or BWTSCALE options of the233