I am working with longitudinal data and using SEM and have been receiving the 'initial values not feasible' error.. I have re-scaled some of my variables according to the advice given in this forum to other inquiries of this type, and got some success with somewhat simplified versions of my model - using cross-sectional data and using indicators/observed variables only, rather than latent variables along with indicators/observed variables. The Stata manual states that the problem with 'initial values not feasible' can be addressed by the following:
Specify initial starting values as
You need to give that variance a larger starting
value, which you can do by typing
. sem ..., ... var(e.F, init(1))l
or
. sem ..., ... var(e.F, init(2))
or
. sem ..., ... var(e.F, init(10))
Also the following:
To set the initial value of a path coefficient,
add the init() option where the path is specified. Say the original sem command included y<-x1:
. sem ... (y<-x1 x2) ...
If you wanted to set the initial value of the path from x1 to 3, modify the command to read
. sem ... (y<-(x1, init(3)) x2) ...
I was unable to find an example of a SEM script that shows 'init' being used.
My SEM script has the arrows going in the opposite direction and looks something like this:
sem(LatentVar> ObservedVar, )..... (LatentVarA-> LatentVarB, ) .... latent(LatentVarA LatentVarB .....) method(mlmv) nocapslatent
In this context how should the 'init' option be used? Can you please provide examples?
Specify initial starting values as
You need to give that variance a larger starting
value, which you can do by typing
. sem ..., ... var(e.F, init(1))l
or
. sem ..., ... var(e.F, init(2))
or
. sem ..., ... var(e.F, init(10))
Also the following:
To set the initial value of a path coefficient,
add the init() option where the path is specified. Say the original sem command included y<-x1:
. sem ... (y<-x1 x2) ...
If you wanted to set the initial value of the path from x1 to 3, modify the command to read
. sem ... (y<-(x1, init(3)) x2) ...
I was unable to find an example of a SEM script that shows 'init' being used.
My SEM script has the arrows going in the opposite direction and looks something like this:
sem(LatentVar> ObservedVar, )..... (LatentVarA-> LatentVarB, ) .... latent(LatentVarA LatentVarB .....) method(mlmv) nocapslatent
In this context how should the 'init' option be used? Can you please provide examples?