01099523

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2082-14

http://scholar.google.com...ston&publication_year=2008

With the use of census block group data on sociodemographics, land use, and travel behavior, the cutoffs suggested in the literature for trustworthy estimates and hypothesis-testing statistics were tested, and the efficacy of deleting observations as an approach to improving multivariate normality in structural equation modeling was evaluated. It was found that the deletion of enough cases to achieve multivariate normality yielded results that were substantively different from those for the full sample and required that 17% of the sample be discarded. Alternatively, after only a few true outliers were deleted (0.8% of the sample), the measures of univariate and multivariate nonnormalities fell into the acceptable range for maximum likelihood estimation to be appropriate. The pursuit of a multivariate normal distribution by the deletion of observations should be consciously weighed against the loss of model power and generalizability in the interpretation of the results. That is, the analyst should proactively find the balance between the two extremes of (a) a model on the full sample that is unreliable because of extreme nonnormality and (b) a model on a sample that has discarded so many cases to achieve multivariate normality that it is no longer fully representative of the desired population. It is further argued that the process of finding that balance should be exposed to the audience rather than ignored or suppressed.

01119091

English

pp 116-124

2008

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309125994

Print

Figures (3) ; References (21) ; Tables (5)

Data collection; Estimation theory; Maximum likelihood method; Multivariate analysis; Normal distributions; Statistical analysis; Structural equation modeling; Travel behavior; Travel surveys

Data and Information Technology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB

Jan 29 2008 4:12PM

• Accessibility, Travel Behavior, and New Urbanism: Case Study of Mixed-Use Centers and Auto-Oriented Corridors in the South Bay Region of Los Angeles, California
• Analysis of Travel Time in Multiple-Purpose Trips
• Changes in Travel Behavior of Commuters Between 1970 and 2000
• Commute Replacement and Commute Displacement: The Rise of Part-Day Home Working
• Estimated Value of Savings in Travel Time in Switzerland: Analysis of Pooled Data
• Examination of Traveler Responses to Real-Time Information About Bus Arrivals Using Panel Data
• Exploring the Influence of Urban Form on Work Travel Behavior with Agent-Based Modeling
• Exploring Travel Behavior of Elderly Women in Rural and Small Urban North Dakota: An Ecological Modeling Approach
• How Do Commuters Know When to Leave Home? Verbal Protocol Analysis of Cognitive Processes
• Hybrid Choice Modeling of New Technologies for Car Choice in Canada
• Identification of Parameters for a Prospect Theory Model for Travel Choice Analysis
• Joint Model of Choice of Residential Neighborhood and Bicycle Ownership: Accounting for Self-Selection and Unobserved Heterogeneity
• Reduced Overestimation in Forecasting Telecommuting as a Travel Demand Management Policy
• Reliability of Travel Time: Effective Measures from Behavioral Point of View
• Route Choice Under Uncertainty: Effects of Recommendations
• Social Activities and Travel Demand: Model-Based Analysis of Social Network Data
• Two Cities, Two Realities? A Closer Look at the Evolution of Trip Rates in Toronto and Montreal, Canada
• Urban Form, Individual Spatial Footprints, and Travel: Examination of Space-Use Behavior
• Value of Travel Time Savings Under Random Taste Heterogeneity: Application to Cities in Developing Countries