PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES (PLS-SEM): A NOTE FOR BEGINNERS
1Mohammed Lawal Yahaya; Zainab Ango Murtala2 & Henry. N. Onukwube3
1Department of Physical Planning and Development, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
2Department of Works and Services, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Kware, Sokoto
3Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos, Lagos
Email: mohammedlawalyahaya@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Smart PLS is among the leading software applications for Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). It has been developed by Ringle, Wende & Will (2005). Since its launch in 2005, the software has gained popularity not only because it is freely available to academics and researchers, but also because it has a user-friendly interface, advanced reporting features and choose formative or reflective models. Although a large number of journal articles on the subject of PLS modeling have been published, the number of instruction materials available for this software is limited especially within the context of environmental studies. This paper is written to resolve this knowledge gap and to help beginners in various field of study to understand how PLS-SEM can be used in construction economics and management research. A step-by- step method was demonstrated for the measurement and structural model evaluation stating the main points in reporting each model. We believe that construction industry scholars would recognize and embraced the use of the statistical methods at their disposal to explore and better understand the phenomena they are researching compared to the first generation tool of analysis employed earlier.
Keywords: Bootstrapping; Formative; Measurement Model; Path coefficient; Reflective; Smart PLS; Structural Model.
