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Modification Indices
Mplus Discussion
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
posted on Thursday, November 29, 2001 - 6:26 pm
Why are modification indices not available when estimating a model with WLMSV? I have a three factor model with 12 variables on f1, 6 variables on f2 and 2 variables on f3. the variables are measured on a 1-6 likert scale, with many ceiling and floor effects for each indicator. Therefore, I listed the indicators as categorical and estimated using a WLMSV technique. I believe several of the indicators may have correlated measurement error due to the nature of the questions. Any suggestions?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 8:02 am
Modification indices have not yet been developed for estimators other than maximum likelihood. You can look at derivatives instead, which are unscaled modification indices. You can obtain these be specifying TECH2 in the OUTPUT command. The signs of the derivatives are the opposite sign that the parameter would have it it were free. You should free the parameters with the largest derivatives. You cannot tell by the size whether freeing the parameter will reduce chi-square significantly. If observed variables are measured on different scales, the size of the derivatives will be influenced by this. As a result, you cannot compare the size of derivatives of observed variables that are measured on different scales.
posted on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 1:43 pm
Thank you very much. This is very helpful.
Kaja LeWinn
posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 9:06 am
I have recently updated to the 3.12 version from the 3.11 version. Having run the exact same models in both versions of MPLUS, I have found that I get significantly different modification indicies depending on the version used. Is there an explaination for this?
Thank you for your help,
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:01 am
Please send the two outputs, the input, and data along with your license number to
posted on Monday, November 28, 2005 - 10:08 pm
My modification indices in multigroup analysis (CFA) revealed that there's a threshold that is largely significant in both groups. I'm assuming that I've to then constrain this to be equal in both groups.
Q1) How do I do that?
Q2) What does this large threshold across both groups mean?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - 6:50 am
If you received a modification index for the parameter, it was either fixed or constrained to be equal to another parameter. So your choices would be to free the parameter or remove the equality constraint.
Any large modification index indicates that freeing the parameter or removing the equality constraint could result in better model fit.
Whether you want to do this depends on what this would mean.
A. Dyrlund
posted on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 - 4:57 pm
When using the MODINDICES command...I am not sure how to determine which modification indicies are significant (i.e., will result in significant changes in the chi square fit). I see that one can request modification indicies to be greater than a specific value but how does one know what the value should be set to? Is this something that is completely determined by the researcher or are there some general guidelines?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, May 03, 2006 - 6:28 am
Modification indices are the amount chi-square will drop the the parameter is estimated as part of the model. The chi-square value of 3.84 is the value that should be exceeded at the .05 level for one degree of freedom. You can find this by looking at a chi-square table. So you would want the modification index to be at least 3.84 and probably larger to free the parameter. It would also need to make sense to free the parameter.
A. Dyrlund
posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 10:25 am
So if my degrees of freedom = 1728 and the critical chi square for that value is 1825.8209 I should include the following syntax:
Is that correct?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - 1:49 am
A modification index is for one degree of freedom. The critical value is 3.84. If you say MODINDICES, the default criticl value is 10.
J.D. Haltigan
posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 2:26 pm
I ran a CFA on a three-factor unidimensional model with three indicators for each latent. The CFA indicated the proposed factor structure did not fit the data (assume I have examined relative fit indices).
That said, one on of the mod indices (which i set to 5.0) suggested an M.I. of 25.588 if I correlated the error of one indicator with the other (suggesting some similar form of measurement)...; applying this parameter makes the model significant, and highly; rationale for the proposed model change (correlating the errors can be conceptually made) but what does the E.P.C., Std E.P.C and StdYX E.P.C. refer to (in other words, the E.P.C.).
J.D. Haltigan
posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 2:56 pm
I ran a CFA on a three-factor unidimensional model with three indicators for each latent. The CFA indicated the proposed factor structure did not fit the data (assume I have examined relative fit indices).
That said, one on of the mod indices (which i set to 5.0) suggested an M.I. of 25.588 if I correlated the error of one indicator with the other (suggesting some similar form of measurement)...; applying this parameter makes the model significant, and highly; rationale for the proposed model change (correlating the errors can be conceptually made) but what does the E.P.C., Std E.P.C and StdYX E.P.C. refer to (in other words, the E.P.C.).
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 3:26 pm
E.P.C. is the expected parameter change if the parameter is freed. The other two are standardized versions of this. You can find further information in the user's guide under the MODINDICES option.
Ramin Azad
posted on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 4:36 pm
What is a good range for modification indice?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 4:38 pm
The critical cutoff value for one degree of freedom is 3.84. I'm not sure there is a defined good range.
Metin Ozdemir
posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - 2:33 pm
Is it possible to obtain MODIFICATION indices for WITH statements when using WLSMV estimator in MPlus 4.21?
OUTPUT: MOD provided me with the modification indicies for BY statement only.
If output for BY statements is not available, is there any other way to decide which paths may be included into the model to define correlated residuals?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - 2:52 pm
You need to add some statement to open the matrix for residual covrriances so you will obtain these modification indices:
u1 WITH
for example.
Sofie Wouters
posted on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 - 7:52 am
I am trying to fit a model with one latent factor that was measured by 10 items.
First, I did a CFA with these 10 items being indicators of my latent factor (without parcels). However, the fit of the model was not good. I then looked at modification indices and ended up adding 9 WITH-statements which did result in a good fit(item2 with item 6, ...), but I'm asking myself if this makes any sense? Is this a common finding?
I also tried to remedy the bad fit of my model by using item parcels, with result in very good fit indices, but then my structural paths were no longer significant, whereas these paths were significant in the adjusted model with the WITH-statements...
Any ideas on how to solve this problem? Or is my model just not good enough?
Thank you for the information!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 - 10:11 am
If you had to add that many residual covariances, it sounds like the items may measure more than one factor. I would try an EFA.
Sofie Wouters
posted on Thursday, August 06, 2009 - 12:34 am
Thank you Linda, for your quick response!
When doing a EFA, I indeed find that the solution with two factors is better.
It's only strange because we really expected only one factor. The 10 items were all supposed to measure academic self-concept and we did not expect any other factor...
When looking at the items loading on these different factors, there might be some interference, would it then be acceptable to only use those items that really seem to measure academic self-concept and drop the items that load on another interfering factor?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, August 06, 2009 - 7:28 am
EFA is a good way to see if items behave as expected. It sounds like some items did not. I would use only the items that measure the construct as intended.
Sofie Wouters
posted on Friday, August 07, 2009 - 12:33 am
Thank you for your answer!
posted on Monday, January 11, 2010 - 11:21 am
I am trying to run measurement model.
Is there any commend to view all modication indices?
I ran my measurement model with several latent variables.
I wrote "mod(all)", then output did not show modification indices across indicators.
In other words, my latent variables, A, B, & C, have three indicators, a1 a2 a3, b1 b2 b3, c1 c2 c3.
But the modification indices showed a1&b1, a1&b2, a1 & c1 and so on.
However, I'd like to see correlated errors within one latent variable such as a1 & a2, a1 & a3, a2 & a3.
What commands can I use instead of "mod(all)"?
Thanks for your help.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, January 11, 2010 - 2:57 pm
Try MODINDICES (ALL 0);.
posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 3:55 pm
Thanks for your advice.
However, even though I tried to use that, it does not seem to give what I wanted.
Are there any other reasons for this problem?
If you don't mind, could you have a look at my input commands?
pwb by pposaf pnegaf; pposaf @3;
PLE by psoact
Health by HealPro poars18 poars19 ;
PES by MNEEDS FINEMRG PEXTRAS;
PHY by piadlsum ppadlsum;
SS by PSRES02 PSRES01 PSRES03;
pwb with PLE @0; pwb with health @0; pwb with PES @0; pwb with PHY @0; pwb with SS @0; PLE with
; PLE with PES @0; PLE with
; PLE with
;health with
; health with
; health with
; PES with
; PES with
; PHY with
Thanks for your time.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 5:05 pm
Please send your output and license number to
Pranav Gandhi
posted on Saturday, May 08, 2010 - 4:06 pm
I am working on testing measurement invariance in a longitudinal model over two time points. However, I am not certain when setting up the measurement model. I am using SF-36 as the measurement instrument. The fit indices indicate a very good model fit, RMSEA=0.0457 (90% CI=0.038-0.053), NNFI=0.9914, CFI=0.9944, SRMR=0.027, NFI=0.9912.
However, the modification indices in theta-delta matrix for five of the observed variables are on the higher side(12.39, 11.89, 31.01, 15.95, and 11.81).
In addition, several standardized residuals are >2.0 (the largest value is 5.27 and the smallest is -4.07).
I tried several different combinations with loading indicator variables on different latent variables and error covariances, but none seem to work. Could you suggest to me what should I do next?
Thank you for your time!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 9:14 am
It is unclear if you have good model fit why you are wanting to modify the model. The development of the items should suggest the structure of the factors. I would suggest doing at EFA at each time point to see if the items behave as expected.
Pranav Gandhi
posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 5:35 pm
Since the modification indices are very good, should I ignore the modification indices >4.0 and standardized residuals >2.0? Other changes to the model based on modification indices and standardized residuals do not make sense based on theory.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 7:46 am
I would not overfit a model based on modification indices particularly if you cannot support the inclusion of the parameters based on theory.
Pranav Gandhi
posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 8:37 pm
Thank you!
posted on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 5:28 am
I am fitting a factor model on 5 items. Instead of adding a residual covariance between item 2 and 4, I want to add an uncorrelated common factor with its variance fixed to 1 and equality constraints on the factor loadings (gives identical fit).
The covariance is negative, so this is the syntax I used:
intr by v1* v2-v5;
f2 by v2* (l1) ;
f2 by v4 (l2);
f2 with
l1 = -1 * l2;
Using this syntax however, modification indices are not given, because
"MODINDICES option is not available in conjunction with nonlinear constraints
through the use of MODEL CONSTRAINT. "
Is there a way to still obtain the modification indices in my situation?
Thanks in advance!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 8:24 am
I would use the following syntax not MODEL CONSTRAINT:
f2 BY v2* (p);
f2 BY v4* (p);
where p can be negative.
posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 2:08 am
Thank you very much for this fast reply.
But I am afraid it does not solve my issue.
In your example syntax, if p is negative, the model implied covariance between the items is still positive (p*p).
Because I want the extra factor instead of a negative residual covariance, lambda21*psi11*lambda41 should be negative. And therefore one of the factorloadings should be negative and the other positive, but of equal size.
Is there an other way to do this then via the MODEL CONSTRAINT command so that i still obtain modification incidices?
Thanks again
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 11:20 am
If all you want is to represent a residual covariance via a factor, you could simply say:
f by y1 y2;
This will give a loading fixed at 1 for y1 and a free loading lambda_2 for y2. The residual covariance is then parameterized as lambda_2:
rescov = 1*1*lambda_2
The lambda_2 loading can be negative or positive, so you get full flexibility.
But if you insist on the y1 loading being free as well and holding them equal but with opposite signs, you can use Model Constraint with
p2 = -p1;
posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 3:14 am
Thank you very much!
Emily Blood
posted on Thursday, October 21, 2010 - 1:42 pm
Is there a reference I can give when citing modification indices from Mplus other than the general Mplus reference?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, October 21, 2010 - 2:19 pm
Sorbom, D. (1989). Model modification. Psychometrika, 54, 371-384.
Utkun Ozdil
posted on Monday, March 14, 2011 - 9:09 am
After running a two-level confirmatory factor analysis with CATEGORICAL indicators using WLSM estimator I couldn't get the modification indices on the output. Then, I asked for TECH2 but the output told me that both MODINDICES and TECH2 are not available for estimators such as WLSM etc.
Is there a way to get these indices with WLSM estimation or should ML estimation be used instead to get them?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 - 10:30 am
Modification indices are not available for EFA and categorical outcomes. ML is not available in this case.
Samuel McAbee
posted on Friday, June 24, 2011 - 10:20 am
I am new to the Mplus software, and was wondering how the MODINDICES command is scaled. Does the output reflect Modification Indices by fixing the factor variance or by fixing a reference indicator?
In our current project we would like to be able to run multiple models using each possible reference indicator and generate their respective resulting modification indices, following the strategy suggested by Cheung & Rensvold (1999) and Nye, Roberts, Saucier, & Zhou (2008).
Thank you for any clarification on this issue.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, June 24, 2011 - 4:47 pm
The modification indices use the model specification provided in the MODEL command. The default is to fix the first factor indicator to one. This can be changed to freeing all factor loadings and fixing the factor variance to one.
Christoph Weber
posted on Monday, July 25, 2011 - 12:57 pm
Dear Dr. Muthen,
some questions regarding the modindices using MLR-estimation:
Does the modindices already correct for the MLR-estimation? Or does the reported chi-square correspond to the ML-Chi-Square?
And is it correct, that the p-value of the chi�-difference is equivalent to the p-value of the relevant estimate (for ML)?
And if this is true, does it also apply to MLR-estimation?
best regards
Christoph Weber
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 10:19 am
Yes, if you use MLR, the modification indices use MLR.
If you have a nested model that differs by one degree of freedom, the p-value of the effect is the same as the p-value of the difference test for ML and MLR.
Christoph Weber
posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 3:27 am
Now I have a 2-wave (Latent difference scores and static variables) mediation model. The modindices suggests a direct path from an exogenous variable to my outcome (p<.05 according to delta Chi�), but the effect is only p<.10 significant. What might be the reason for this?
best regards
Christoph Weber
Christoph Weber
posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 6:48 am
Dear Dr. Muthen,
one more question.
is it possible, that this (see above) is the result of multicollinearity.
Is the Chi�-difference test to the same extent affected by multicoll. like the SE of the estimate?
Christoph Weber
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 8:19 am
I don't think multicollinearity is the issue. Modification indices usually work well but in some cases they don't.
Christoph Weber
posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 8:54 am
Can you recommend any articles on this problem?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 9:21 am
I don't know of any article that deals with this explicitly. If you want to send your output and license number, we can see if your model context suggests anything special.
Jan Breitsohl
posted on Saturday, August 20, 2011 - 1:16 am
Hello Dr Muthen,
What is considered to be an EPC high enough to modify the parameter?
I get the following and am not sure which to consider for modification:
M.I. E.P.C. Std E.P.C. StdYX E.P.C.
BY Statements
25.818 -0.123 -0.106 -0.093
43.591 0.174 0.140 0.146
WITH Statements
11.818 0.171 0.171 0.306
41.095 0.109 0.109 0.201
15.937 0.037 0.037 0.123
10.939 -0.046 -0.046 -0.090
Thank you very much
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Saturday, August 20, 2011 - 8:55 am
That's more of a substantive question - what you regard as a practically important deviation from zero. In factor analysis with standardized variables (so going by STDYX), cross-loadings are often deemed ignorable if less than 0.3, but that may be a bit high. One way to judge what is important is to free the parameter and see how much your key parameters change - if they don't change in important ways, then the modification was perhaps not necessary.
Richard E. Zinbarg
posted on Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 10:01 am
Hi Linda and/or Bengt,
When conducting a CFA of a single factor model, we have recently obtained some modification indices that don't make sense to us. First, some modification indices are saying to regress the factor on all of the items. Second, the values of these modification indices equal 999. Any light you can shed on these would be most appreciated.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 11:56 am
Modification indices are given for all fixed and constrained parameters in the model. This does not mean it makes sense to free all of these parameters. In deciding which parameters you want to free, you need to establish that it makes sense to do so. A 999 means that the MI could not be computed.
Richard E. Zinbarg
posted on Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 1:46 pm
thanks for the very speedy reply Linda! I am curious though - I don't remember in the past ever getting a MI suggesting to regress a latent variable on any of its indicators, have you seen this before?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 1:55 pm
All fixed parameters get modification indices. Perhaps the size of the modification index did not exceed the default of 10 so this is why you did not see them.
Richard E. Zinbarg
posted on Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 6:02 pm
ok, thanks!
Eefje Steenvoorden
posted on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - 7:58 am
Hi Dr Muthen,
My CFA model turns out nicely I think, with an RMSEA of 0.035 and CFI/TLI of 0.985/0.980. But some MI's turn out to be 999.999. When I exclude an item, this effect is gone and the model is still very similar in other respets. Could you tell be why these very similar model suddenly have not calculable MI's? And how should I judge my model?
Thank you in advance,
Eefje Steenvoorden
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - 8:40 am
The 999 occurs when a computation cannot be completed. This does not reflect badly on your results. It is separate from the results.
Eefje Steenvoorden
posted on Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - 1:22 am
thank you for your fast reply. Am I correct that it can indicate item(s) that are redundant in the model?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - 9:37 am
I don't believe this is the reason.
Jennifer Clark
posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - 5:47 am
Dear Dr Muthen,
I think I have read the MIs are related to chi squared values and hence are affected by sample size? I was just wondering because I have a sample of over 6,500 people. I am testing a CFA (3 factors, each with 6-9 observed indicators) for a new theoretical concept (first explored with an EFA). My chi squared value is understandably large at 5,192 with 227 degrees of freedom, but my model fit indices are very good (CFI/TFI=0.97, RMSEA= 0.55 with tight 90%CI). My observed indicators are ordinal and very skewed so I am using WLSMV estimator.
My questions:
1) I have very large MI values (in just the BY statements I have 15 with values over 100, 5 over 400) but could the size of these values be affected by my sample size? Only 5 of them have StdYX E.P.C greater than 0.3, so potentially not all of them affect the model parameters that much? Or is this saying something counter to my good model fit indices?
2) My WRMR value is 3.707. This seems oddly large? What does that mean?
Thank you very much for your help. I was not able to find other postings about very large MI values in cases of good model fit.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - 8:21 am
1. I would free some of these parameters that make substantive sense and see how fit is affected.
2. I would ignore WRMR. It is an experimental fit statistic.
posted on Sunday, January 06, 2013 - 5:06 am
Hi Dr Muthen,
I am new to the Mplus software. When conducting a CFA of ML estimator��I revised the model according to the biggest MI value.
It did well at the beginning, but after some steps, it said "NO CONVERGENCE. NUMBER OF ITERATIONS EXCEEDED." and MI is not shown. How can I avoid this happenning? And what is the use of EPC?
Thank you very much for your help
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Sunday, January 06, 2013 - 5:21 pm
"No convergence" can have a multitude of reasons as described in the UG.
Typically, if you free a parameter that has a large MI, convergence problems don't occur. If they do, you can request SVALUES in the Output command of the first run which gives the estimates of that run to be used as starting values in the second run where you free the parameter.
EPC stands for expected parameter change and tells you how much the parameter changes when freed.
maryam habibi
posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - 11:54 pm
Hi Drs Muthen,
If i want to reduce my chi squared because in my modification indices two with statement variables are correlated, how do i do this in the codes??
lets say the MI for
x with Y, and
Y with Z
are larger than 3.84 and correlated theoretically
What is the code to free the parameters in my CFA ?
Kind Regards,
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, November 14, 2013 - 6:09 am
x WITH y;
y WITH z;
Yeshim Iqbal
posted on Tuesday, June 02, 2015 - 2:59 am
Hi Drs. Muthen,
I am currently using the MODEL CONSTRAINT command to set parameters equal across groups (all variables are observed), but this means I cannot get any modindices to see which parameters "ask to" be set free...is there an alternate way to do this that would allow me to access modindices?
Thanks so much!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, June 02, 2015 - 6:22 am
If all you want is to hold single parameters equal, you can do that in the MODEL command. Chapter 14 contains a discussion of multiple group analysis. There is a section on equalities in multiple group analysis.
Noud Frielink
posted on Monday, September 28, 2015 - 9:30 am
Dear Dr Muthen,
We conducted a CFA, and although the model fit is good, there are some misspecifications in the model as indicated by 'the detection of misspecification�-procedure (Saris, Satorra, & van der Veld, 2009). We can deal with these misspecifications by adding three additional parameters to the model, but this is not preferable as these parameters needs to be added to items that are not in the same factor. Therefore, although the model scores good with respect to the traditional fit indices, the model fit is not good (enough).
We are now thinking about a solution to test whether the model we tested may have a few misspecifications, but regardless of these misspecifications, the tested model is the best possible model. We want to use a permutation test for this (in which we test whether the dividing of the items in the factors in our tested model is significantly better than the dividing of items in any other model), but I'm not sure whether this is possible in Mplus. And if so, how can I use it in mplus?
Thank you very much and kind regards,
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - 6:30 am
Not possible as far as I know.
But why not see if freeing those three additional (and unpalatable) parameters changes anything important in your key parameters? So a kind of sensitivity test.
Rohan Jayasuriya
posted on Sunday, February 28, 2016 - 5:14 am
I am testing a structural model as below
INTEX1 on RPEx1 OEEx1 ASEEx1;
PA_sqrt on MSE_1 AP_1 RSE_1 CP_1;
AP_1 on INTEX1 MSE_1;
CP_1 on INTEX1;
MSE_1 on ASEEx1;
RSE_1 on MSE_1;
My model fit is poor and MI's are numerous
What I do not understand is (A) why the following MI's are given
when RSE_1 on MSE_1 is in the model.
(B) what change(modification) do I need to make in the model for
(c) which modification do I choose first
[please note the model had RSE_1 on MSE_1: so why is this indicating a change]
thank you
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Sunday, February 28, 2016 - 5:59 am
Only modification indices that make substantive sense should be considered. Modifiction indices are given for all free and constrained parameters.
Rohan Jayasuriya
posted on Wednesday, March 02, 2016 - 3:44 am
Hi Linda
thank you for the prompt reply. Sorry, can I ask a clarification here. In the case of RSE_1 on MSE_1 , a parameter was estimated in the model "RSE_1 on MSE_1;"
It is a substantive question. If it is already in the model what modification can I ask for as model2 ?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, March 02, 2016 - 10:02 am
I would need to see the output to understand this. ON and BY are actually the same. BY is used for factors to give a factor name but it is the regression of the factor indicators on the factor. If the parameter is in the model in another form, ignore the modification index.
Rohan Jayasuriya
posted on Saturday, March 05, 2016 - 3:22 am
Thanks Linda
Your last sentence clarifies what I need to do
Jon A Watford
posted on Friday, July 28, 2017 - 2:27 pm
Hi Drs. Muthen,
Why does Mplus sometimes give me modification indices for things I already have in the model?
For example, if I have specified:
Why will it sometimes give me a mod index that suggests that adding
will improve the fit?
Does this especially happen in invariance models?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Friday, July 28, 2017 - 4:55 pm
It can be due to invariance. Note also that F1 BY A is fixed at 1, so not a free parameter. And it is identified if you set the metric by
posted on Friday, March 23, 2018 - 8:52 am
Hello, I am conducting an SEM and modification indices for the measurement model suggested allowing an indicator to load on two latent variables. This was theoretically sound and I made the correction. The overall model was significant, however the modifications parameter estimate was not significant. In terms of the measurement model, should this modification still be included if it was not significant?
When I moved to the structural model and examined the relationship between the latent variables and another observed variable, and left this modification out of the model given its non-significant parameter estimate, this modification was suggested again in the modification indices and including it made both the associated parameter estimate and the model significant. I believe the modification is theoretically sound but I am unsure how to interpret these results. Should the modification be included in the measurement model or should it only be included as a modification in the structural model only (given its significance in the measurement but significance in the structural)?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Friday, March 23, 2018 - 4:36 pm
Answer on the first paragraph: No.
Answer on the second paragraph: Include the parameter because it is significant.
posted on Thursday, March 29, 2018 - 6:03 pm
I am conducting an SEM and after re-specification of the model, some factors have standardized coefficients above 1.0. For example, freeing indicator A allows it to load on latent variable B & C - and results in standardized loadings for A that exceed 1.0 (both positive and negative). Is this acceptable?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Friday, March 30, 2018 - 1:43 pm
See the FAQ on our website
Standardized coefficient greater than 1
Daniel Lee
posted on Thursday, January 31, 2019 - 9:19 am
I am ran a CFA for the same measure between two groups (males & femaleS). Both CFAs did not fit the data well (RMSEA = .10, CFI = .90), and the fit improved after covarying two residuals.
My question is, when proceeding to test measurement invariance, what should we do with the modifications we applied to the measurement models? If we are to proceed with the modifications in the tests of measurement invariance, should we constrain the residual covariances to be equal between both groups?
Thanks much, Dan
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Thursday, January 31, 2019 - 4:16 pm
This general analysis strategy question is good for SEMNET.
Susan Collins
posted on Saturday, June 08, 2019 - 12:30 pm
I am conducting a growth analysis Where y1-y6 were all indicators of I, S and Q. I got MODINDICES and one of these with a high modification index was:
y1 ON y1
What is being regressed on what in this case?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Saturday, June 08, 2019 - 4:03 pm
Such entries should just be ignored.
Susan Collins
posted on Sunday, June 09, 2019 - 1:06 am
Perhaps I should reframe my question to be closed ended. I am confused because the same name seems to refer to different parameters, but I certainly have hypotheses:
1) Does "Y1 on Y1" refer to the regression of Y1 on its error variance?
2) If so, I assume as a default the model is fixing this to 1, and the MI refers to chisq change should I free this path for estimation?
3) If so, would one fix the error variance to 1 (using
in the model command) to identify that part of the model?
4) Relatedly, would "Y1 WITH Y2" refer in this case (where Y1 and Y2 are endogenous) to the corresponding variables' error covariance?
Thank you for your help.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Sunday, June 09, 2019 - 4:32 pm
1) No. It refers to a regression ("ON") of Y1 on Y1.
4) Yes.
Susan Collins
posted on Monday, June 10, 2019 - 12:05 am
Regarding your response to question 1: I understand you're saying it's ignorable, but what does it mean regressing "y1 on y1"? Is it referring to the variance of y? Like cov(y,y)= var(y)? In the meantime, I have looked at other entries and it appears this question has come up before, but has not been answered directly. I think it would be helpful to understand what parameters the modindices output are referring to--even if nontheoretical or nonsensical--just to be sure I am reading the output correctly in general.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Monday, June 10, 2019 - 10:00 am
Q1-Q3: I answered this in 1) above. It should be ignored.
Michael Covell
posted on Monday, July 29, 2019 - 6:18 pm
What are "ON/BY Statements?" I don't see a description of this in the user guide.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 - 6:08 pm
That refers to ON statements and BY statements.
Michael Covell
posted on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - 11:19 am
How is the "ON/BY Statements" section different from the "BY Statements" section which is listed separately and contains different information?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - 12:16 pm
Send your output to Support so we can see what you are looking at.
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It seems that ssh-agent is not starting on my OpenSuSE system. When I run
pgrep -fl ssh-agent, the result is blank. On my Linux Mint laptop, I get
1785 /usr/bin/ssh-agent /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session x-session-manager.
How do I fix this? Can anyone with OpenSuSE check to see if it's not started up by default, or if I maybe messed something up?
things tried...
I've tried adding the following to
if test -S "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK" -a -x "$SSH_ASKPASS"; then
ssh-add < /dev/null
and my
.xsession file contains,
ssh-agent {
ssh-add &
but neither of these things seems to do anything. Thanks in advance!!

subset: commoncrawl


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Presents all Standards for electrical insulating varnishes. Intended to assist those responsible for the design and repair of existing electrical equipment.
Terms & ConditionsTo display, copy and/or download a copy of the document you have requested, NEMA's permission is subject to the following terms and conditions, which you must agree to by clicking on the "I Accept" button below:
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Several local lawmakers pledged Friday to seek adequate funding for human services workers and programs as they juggle transportation and other needs during the state budget development process.
Several local lawmakers pledged Friday to seek adequate funding for human services workers and programs as they juggle transportation and other needs during the state budget development process.
"I want to let you know that I'm going to continue to fight for revenues that's not just for transportation, but for education and human services for the entire commonwealth of Massachusetts," state Sen. James Eldridge, D-Acton, told human services providers at MetroWest Advocacy Coalition's 11th annual legislative breakfast.
Eldridge was among nine lawmakers who attended the breakfast at the Natick Elks lodge. Bob Richards, vice president at Justice Resource Institute, said human services agencies could see an additional $185 million, depending on how the state budget process plays out. Many human services workers have gone without cost-of-living adjustments for more than two decades, he said.
Richards said while that's a significant amount of money, there are still challenges with funding salaries and critical programs, including ones that help people with disabilities transition to adult life and autism initiatives.
"When you are thinking about revenue, please think about human services because we need the revenue," he said. "Just small increases in revenue will make a big difference for all the people we serve in Massachusetts."
State Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said she understands that, without adequate salaries, human services workers leave for higher-paying jobs, creating high turnover, or work two jobs, leaving them exhausted. Spilka said public transportation is also important since many people with disabilities rely on that.
"These are all critically important programs," said Spilka, who has a sister who benefits from those services. "We need to be restoring the cuts (from previous years). It's as simple as that."
Framingham resident Tim Lee, who has received services for schizophrenia, said after the breakfast he has seen the effect of high turnover since he had to adjust to a new person several times. The new person also has to learn about him and what services he needs.
Lee, who now works part time for Advocates Inc., a Framingham-based human services organization, said he is pleased to see lawmakers tackling the salary issue.
State Rep. Thomas Conroy, D-Wayland, said it's important for government, through taxation and raising other revenue, to fully fund human services programs. Conroy also highlighted the need to invest in workforce training so people have guidance and mentoring to get stable jobs.
State Rep. Danielle Gregoire, D-Marlborough, said she supports the work of agencies like these, but can't commit to a revenue proposal.
"We're facing an unbelievable challenge right now," Gregoire said, noting lawmakers need to look outside the box for solutions. " I don't know yet what I'm going to do."
State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, said he has taken a lead on efforts to increase salaries through a salary reserve program because "it's something that is just quite frankly the right thing to do."
Linsky said he understands the impact inadequate salaries have on service providers' ability to pay student loans and other bills while adeptly performing difficult jobs.
"The people in this room are heroes," he said.
State Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin, said funding the salary reserve was one of three priorities he submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee.
"I'm committed to helping folks like yourselves and making sure we provide adequate funding to keep these programs alive," Roy said.
Brian Benson can be reached at 508-626-3964 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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As part of the forensic and investigative accounting class this winter, Portland State University's School of Business students participated in a new program, Justice for Fraud Victims Project (JFVP), which investigates actual fraud cases provided by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). The program is a new partnership between PSU, Portland Law Enforcement, Moss Adams, LLP and the Portland Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners. Taught by Nancy Young, CPA, CISA, CFE of Moss Adams, LLP, and assisted by PPB's Detective Brian Sitton, students examined real world complications in alleged white collar crimes including a credit card fraud case, property management case and a falsified time reporting case.
The inflow of cases to PPB's White Collar Crime unit is staggering. "With capacity to only focus on bigger financial crimes, many cases are never processed," said Sitton, who worked closely with students during the course. "The students worked hard to find motives and gather enough evidence to identify and place the suspect into the court system who would have otherwise gotten away," Sitton said.
The partnership is a way for PPB to process more cases without requesting additional funding, while simultaneously providing PSU students with hands-on community-based learning. "Having real cases to work on really made an impact on the students. It was a win-win for everyone except for the fraudsters," said Young.
This course confirmed for many students if forensic accounting is the right niche for them. Regardless of their choice to move forward in this area, the real world applications inspired their work resulting in a 100% participation rate.
The project's success earned Young and Sitton a PPB Achievement Medal Award on April 16. Pictured (right) with Sitton (left) and Accounting Area Director Elizabeth Almer (center), Young and Sitton accepted their awards amongst other impressive recipients honored for their extraordinary civic and heroic achievements.
The forensic accounting class is part of a larger effort by the PSU Accounting Area to offer more non-traditional electives that are relevant to regional demand. In addition to offering this class again next winter, PSU will be launching an advanced not-for-profit accounting course next spring. For more information about the JFVP and the forensic accounting course, visit the website at pdx.edu/sba/jfvp.


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CJ Ciaramella
Washington Free Beacon
March 8, 2013
One of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's top gun-control lobbyists in Colorado appears to enjoy firing the very guns he is working to restrict.
Denver-based Headwaters Strategies lobbyist Adam Eichberg participated at a "watermelon shoot" in September 2012 at the farm of Colorado state Sen. Greg Brophy (R.) where he fired a semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine.
A picture obtained by the Washington Free Beacon shows Eichberg smiling broadly as he shoulders a DPMS .308 rifle with a 20-round magazine.
"I really hate watermelons," Eichberg said via email when asked for comment.
Bloomberg's group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, hired Headwater Strategies in January to lobby for several gun-control bills under consideration by the Colorado legislature. Those bills would ban the future sale, transfer, or manufacture of so-called high-capacity magazines in the state.
By the way, people who know what's coming are taking advantage of our healthy & delicious storable food!


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The tropical paradise of Derawan Archipelago in East Kalimantan will radiate its enchanting splendors in a series of festivities as the elaborate event of Derawan Festival 2013 gets underway, scheduled to take place from 21st June to 22nd September 2013.
Carrying the theme "Derawan for the Future", the event, centered in the Berau Regency will be an international promotion program aimed to introduce and further promote the wonders of the Derawan Arcipelago as part of the Wonderful Indonesia and the Visit East Kalimantan campaign.
Officiated on 24th February 2013 at the Hotel Aston Samarinda in the capital of East Kalimantan, the festival consists of a series of activities that will last for three whole months with highlights in June and September.
Kicking off the festival will be a Dive Tournament and the Live on Board Festival which will be held in the seas around the Derawan Archipelago from 21st to 30th June 2013 to be participated by mariners and dive enthusiasts from all over the archipelago and abroad.
On 13th to 15th June 2013, a social charity program aimed to aid the local population of the Berau Regency entitled Bhakti Surya Bhaskara Jaya Operation is organized by the Indonesian Navy.
Then the pinnacle of the festival will occur on 15th September 2013 with the Official Opening Ceremony in the Berau Regency to be led by Indonesia's President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, along with other government officials. The opening ceremony will be followed by a Gala Dinner. There will also be an Exhibition which will last until 22nd September 2013. Participating in the exhibition will be the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Ministry of Trade, the Association of Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI), Tour Operators, Dive Operators, and various small and medium businesses.
From 15th to 20th September 2013, yachts participating in the Sail Indonesia 2013 Yacht Rally and the Cruise to Derawan will enter Derawan. The Route of the Sail Indonesia 2013 will have taken yachts from Davao to Talaud-Sangihe-Bitung to Derawan, while the Cruise to Derawan will have taken international sail enthusiasts on a course from Phuket to Singapore-Anambas–Kinabalu and on to Derawan.
There will also be the Bhakti Kesra Nusantara Operation conducted by the Navy on 13th to 15th September 2013 and the International Seminar on Coral Triangle Initiative and Small Islands from 16th to 18th September 2013. On 22nd September 2013, the audience and participants will be entertained with an Open Entertainment Stage featuring Indonesian top singers and traditional art performances.
Wrapping up the excitement, participants in the festival will be taken to the waters around Derawan, Maratua, and Kakaban islands for a Fishing Game tournament on 23rd to 30th September 2013.
Competing for the Chief of the NAVY's trophy, the tournament will be a team competition in which participants are top anglers in the country and abroad.
More Information available at: www.festivalderawan.com
Photo courtesy : www.festivalderawan.com
Source : http://www.indonesia.travel/en/event/detail/689/derawan-festival-2013-derawan-for-the-future


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Dragon Dog Collar Brown
Every product has it's own size chart which can be FOUND IN THE SECONDARY PHOTOS (under the main photo) on each item.No two size charts are exactly the same! A small on one size chart might be a medium on another size chart. For this reason, we ask that you measure your dog and refer to the size chart on each item in your order to ensure that you will receive a product that fits. Below is a guide to help you measure your dog. If you require assistance, please CONTACT US. We are happy to help!
*For collars, if there is no size chart then it is reasonable to assume that the size of the item will refer to the length measurement (except for a dog harness, in which case the chest measurement would be the size).
**All sizes for clothing are based mainly on chest girth. The chest measurement is critical, especially in larger breeds who have a much deeper chest. Please go one size larger for dogs with very thick fur or if your dogs size is on the border limit.
To determine the proper size for your dog, measure your dog's neck, chest and back with a soft tape-measure following the instructions below.
1. Neck girth is taken by measuring the circumference of the neck (where the collar sits). Measure closely around the neck and do not include space for fingers.
2. Back length is measured from the base of your pet's neck (where the collar sits) to the base of the tail. When measuring the back length it is very important that the pet is standing in normal position.
3. Chest girth is taken from the widest part of the pet's chest, usually behind the front legs. Measure closely all the way around the chest.
*** If you don't have a paper tape measure handy but you do have a printer, CLICK HERE!
This is a custom, high-quality and comfortable dog collar. Dragons are creatures of myth and legend and symbols of good fortune. They appear in gold on this beautiful brown silk brocade, in an ephemeral scene filled with sienna-colored flowers and foliage. The gold satin lining adds quiet richness.
-Starts with a strong but soft webbing core in a width to match the collar width
-Encloses the webbing entirely in either crepe- or flannel-backed satin for body and softness on the neck
-Is securely sewn using industrial strength nylon thread on industrial sewing machines, and is finished with top-of-the-line hardware, including welded D-rings.
-Made in the USA.
Styles: Buckle, Martingale, Buckle Martingale
Small (10"-14")
Medium (13"-18")
Large (15"-20")
X-Large (18"-26")
XX-Large (24"-34")
Please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery. No two dogs are created equal, neither are size charts! Please refer to the size chart to ensure the perfect fit.


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At iHire, we understand the importance of OFCCP compliance. We have two tools available for employers who post a job with us:
Voluntary Self-Identification Form (Free)
Our Voluntary Self-Identification Form can be added to any job you post with us at no extra cost. The questionnaire covers ethnicity, race, gender, disability, and veteran statuses. You will be able to view the form details before choosing to include it.
To include the Voluntary Self-identification form with your posting, select "Yes" under "Voluntary Self-Identification Form" in Step 3 as you are posting your job. To include it in a job that's already posted, go to the Manage Jobs tab, click on "Manage" next to the job you'd like to edit, then in the blue "Edit Job" button in the top right corner of the page.
To view your OFCCP report, go to the Manage Jobs tab, click on "Manage" next to the job you'd like to view, and you'll find a link to the report just under the red "Archive Job" button on the right.
If you need help with setting up the Voluntary Self-Identification Form or DiversityWorking.com Cross-posting, please call Customer Success at 877-316-4111, Monday – Friday 8:30 am to 5:30 pm EST.
Search for information about managing your account, how to use the site, and services iHire offers for job seekers.
Answer questions about iHire's employer services including posting job ads and searching resumes, among other topics.
We're here to help! Contact us with your questions or concerns


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Watch the video to learn the 5 most important factors to consider when hiring an SEO company.
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Watch your company grow with a steady stream of new customers.
The bottom line is if you don't make a great ROI you won't continue to hire us month after month. We're only looking for long term relationships, so if we don't think we can get you a great return on investment we won't take you on as a client to begin with. To ensure the sustainability of our agency we only like to take on new clients that we're sure we can generate an ROI of at least 100%. That said, most of our clients are seeing a 200% – 500% return on our services.
We Are Part of Your Team
Our only goal is to help you succeed. Most SEO companies base their packages on specific quantities of tasks that will be accomplished. In contrast, our SEO services are based on the results we will achieve for you. If your project turns out to take twice as much effort as we expected that's on us. In short, we work until you rank. End of story.
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You should know which advertising dollars are generating revenue for you and which are wasted. We have proprietary call tracking software and Analytics software so you can see exactly where your new clients are coming from and track them through every step of the sales process. This information helps determine which advertising campaigns should get scaled and which should get cut.
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We don't base our business on loopholes that will get your website ranking on the first page of Google in today's algorithm, and de-indexed in the near future. Our methods are aligned with Google's core values, and we look forward to new algorithm updates which generally weed out sites using questionable SEO practices and help our clients' sites move up in the search engine results pages.
If we can achieve these results against other SEO companies think about the results we can achieve in your industry.
The graphs below show the position of a website in Google's search results for a specific keyword over time.
If you would like your website to generate sales you're in the right place. All of our services are based around increasing the number of visitors to your website, and increasing the conversion rate of your website, so in short increasing your sales. Not all of our services are for all businesses, but you don't need to figure it out on your own. You can read summaries of our services to the right, and if you are unsure what would be the most beneficial for your business give us a call at 204-272-7265 or fill out our short application form, and we'll walk you through our services, and what kind of results you could realistically expect over the short and long term horizons based on the level of competition in your area of business and the number of search volumes for relevant keywords.
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With our single site SEO service our goal is to rank your website number one in the organic search results for as many keywords that relate to your business as you'd like to target. This includes keyword research, and ongoing on page and off page SEO. The monthly cost for this service varies greatly depending on the competitiveness of the market you are in, and the number of verticals you would like to rank for. This is a great option for small to medium sized businesses that are just getting started with SEO, or have constrained marketing budgets. This service is the full extent of what most Winnipeg SEO companies offer. For a more detailed explanation of this service check out the the single site SEO page.
If you are looking to take things to the next level and want to dominate the search engines with multiple first page results we suggest you check out our search engine domination service.
Local Listings
For local search terms Google often displays a pack of either three or seven local results near the top of the first page in a pack with a map. On a mobile browser these listings have a call button located directly on the search results page. In January of 2014 mobile search volumes surpassed desktop search volumes. This makes showing up in these local results more important than ever.
The algorithm used to determine which businesses are displayed in these local listings is completely different than the algorithm used to rank sites in the organic results. This service is usually provided as an add-on to one of our other SEO services, since onsite optimization is required for both organic rankings and Google Places rankings. For more details on this service visit the Google My Business page.
Video SEO
Video SEO involves leveraging the selling power of video marketing combined with the distribution power of SEO. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video is worth a million. Our video SEO service includes the production of high quality promotional videos. We then upload these videos to YouTube, and rank them on the first page of Google. On our video SEO page you can find a more detailed look at the process and samples of our work.
Search Engine Domination
Search engine domination refers to an SEO strategy that leverages all of our other SEO services and more. The purpose of search engine domination is not only to rank your website at the top of page one, but also to push your top competitor down the page. Imagine if the first three results on the page belonged to your business, and another one or two lower down. Every first page position that belongs to you pushes a competitor on to the second page. In addition, since the majority of people have a very limited understanding of SEO, if there are five first page results that relate to your business people will assume that your business is the most reputable. In addition to your website and YouTube videos we can rank Yelp pages, Facebook pages, Twitter profiles, Google+ pages, LinkedIn profiles, business directory listings and the list goes on.
Online Reputation Management
Do you have a negative review or news article that's showing up on the first page of Google for your business name? Online reputation management (ORM) is similar to search engine domination, except we rank properties for your brand keyword instead of industry related search terms. Since brand terms are far less competitive than product or service related keywords we can fill all 10 of the first page positions with properties owned by you and push the negative press onto page two.
Integrated Marketing
There is so much more to internet marketing than SEO. Search engine optimization is a great way to bring traffic to your website, but how do you make that traffic convert into paying customers? Most business websites we see are great online brochures. Unfortunately great information and graphics aren't enough to turn people into buyers.
On average only 2% of people make a purchase on their first interaction with a business, and 80% of sales are made on the 5th – 12th interaction, so what are you doing to capture peoples information?
We build sales funnels that include:
- low threshold offers and relevant opt-in bait
- an email auto-responder series
- re-targeting campaigns
Our goal for our integrated marketing clients is simply to increase revenue. Traffic generation is only half of the equation, and with this service we both generate traffic, and make sure it converts.
Website Design
A website is far more than an online brochure for your company. A website can be an important instrument in generating leads and converting them into customers. We build search engine optimized websites that are designed to be the entrance to your sales funnel.
"Jacob's knowledge of SEO is astounding. I went from page 10 to being on the first page within 3 weeks. I'm in an extremely competitive market, and now thanks to Jacob and Firstrank.ca I'm a leader in the industry."
First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on taking action. One of the few guarantees in business is that if you don't take action you will not succeed. The fact that you're here on my site tells me that you are ready to take action, and you are serious about growing your business. Before we start working together I'm going to want to know a lot about you and your business, so to start with I'll tell you a little bit about myself.
I started my first online business in 2005 long before the inception of this Winnipeg SEO Company. Since then I've started developed and sold multiple internet based businesses ranging from promoting national brands for commissions, to sourcing and reselling physical products to creating and marketing digital products. Over the last decade I've acquired a comprehensive understanding of the most effective traffic generation and conversion optimization techniques for selling online.
Although these businesses provided a great source of income throughout university, after graduating from the Asper School of Business with a double major in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, I decided I wanted to do something more meaningful. At the time I was selling the same products that hundreds of other online stores were selling, and I was making a lot of sales because I was better at online marketing than most of my competitors. The problem was my customers were people that were already searching for, and ready to buy the products that I was selling, and I made the sales because my site showed up first. If my website didn't exist these same customers would have found another store and still purchased the product, so in reality I wasn't providing any added value to the manufacturer or the purchaser; I was just getting paid because I had the most visibility.
After reading No B.S. Direct Response Marketing by Dan Kennedy, I began to realize how much of a difference my skills could make to local brick and mortar businesses. The book, which I highly recommend you read if you haven't, is about direct marketing for non-direct marketing businesses.
One of the biggest mistakes most local businesses make is imitating the marketing strategies of big businesses. Throughout business school I continually heard "the purpose of advertising is to alter attitudes, not behaviors." This may be true for a company like Coca-Cola that can afford to spend a million dollars on an add to keep their brand in our evoked set, but for a business with a limited marketing budget every dollar spent on advertising should be traceably accountable for an increase in profit of more than a dollar.
The purpose of First Rank is to help businesses generate leads from their websites. We put a focus on SEO, because we believe it is one of the most cost effective and highest converting forms of traffic generation, however traffic alone is not enough on its own to grow your business. SEO should be combined with conversion optimization, email marketing and retargeting to maximize the ROI of your advertising dollars.


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It has become apparent that people attending church worship services are, in large numbers, dressing down (i.e., wearing T-shirts, blue-jeans, shorts, barefoot sandals, sneakers, baggy pants, etc). This is not a question of financial resources, whereby individuals cannot afford to dress, but a trend.
Has ever been addressed by the OPC? Are Scriptures silent here? Are the clergy to blame?
This matter does not lend itself to a quick or simple answer. I should reveal that I wear a white Genevan gown when leading worship, and have (at least once) talked about dress in worship in a sermon.
First, we live in a culture which tends toward greater informality in dress for all occasions. This becomes evident when one compares a picture of a ballgame from the 1950s to one today. Regional variations are also important. In Chicago a couple years ago, I was struck by how many more suits I saw on the streets there than in the business districts of Denver. It seems the informality common on the beaches of California a generation ago have now migrated across the country even as far as Boston.
This being the case, many Americans simply have no sense of how formality varies with occasion nor how it might impact dress, and this is reflected by their wardrobes. Given the casual way in which worship services are conducted in many evangelical congregations, I think it would never occur to many American Christians that they should have a "Sunday best."
Are the Scriptures silent on this matter? Well, yes and no. I'd be astonished if anyone could draw a straight line from a Biblical passage to "gentlemen should wear ties on Sunday morning" without violating every hermeneutical and homiletical principle known to the reformed. To the best of my knowledge, the OPC as a body has never spoken to this question. At the same time, the Scriptures spend a great deal of time discussing aesthetic matters, particularly in the Law and Wisdom literature, and this discussion tends to support greater formality in dress. I ground my teaching on this matter in the Fifth Commandment: that is, dress is one way in which one shows honor to others, in this case to our Lord and Creator (Shorter Catechism #63-64).
Given the difficulty of proving to one's teenage son that God expects him to wear a coat and tie to services, I think many pastors and elders are reluctant to make too much of an issue of this. Frankly, I'm more concerned that members attend the evening service than that they wear long pants for it. The Church ought never turn people away solely on the basis of their clothing choices, no matter how inappropriate. A preoccupation with this matter, out of proportion to the Bible's interest in it, runs the risk of adding to the Law of God. I think modeling by the session and mature members of the congregation will have the greatest impact: that is, if they dress in an appropriate manner, others will follow suit (no pun intended).
Are the clergy to blame? To the extent they are still captive to the misguided spirit of the 1960s which revered the hatless President Kennedy and eschewed formality at all costs, yes. More substantively, clergy who have treated the worship service as little more than an occasion to present a sermon are to blame. Sessions should give careful attention to the conduct of the service as a ritual shaped by Scripture in which reverence and awe in the presence of God are evident throughout. Why would people dress formally for the service when pastor's demeanor is informal?
Reverence and awe, honor and duty. I suspect that the more we who shepherd the sheep work to cultivate these attitudes in ourselves and in them, the more we will find everyone's dress being appropriate to the occasion.
"Questions and Answers" is a weekly feature of the OPC website. The answers come from individual ministers in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church expressing their own convictions and do not necessarily represent an "official" position of the Church, especially in areas where the Standards of the Church (the Scriptures and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms) are silent.
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Chaplains and Military Personnel


text:
Necessity is the mother of invention
2016 May 19, 10:00 CET
Chuck Newmister, Reliability Systems Account Manager with SKF takes a look at how an effective asset management strategy can help companies in the oil and gas sector protect their operating margins at a time of growing volatility.
The oil and gas sector is under pressure to maintain operating margins. Oil prices have fallen dramatically in the last twelve months, mainly driven by over-supply. This has been due to a range of factors including new reservoir discoveries and drilling techniques, the shale fracking boom, weakness in major economies, growing availability of alternative energy sources and the introduction of ever more efficient combustion engines in cars, trucks and industrial and power generation plants.
Although the market for natural gas is slightly healthier, here too there is growing concern as short term supply is likely to exceed demand, with industry analysts predicting only modest annual growth of 2.4% to 2018 .
Continuing volatility across the supply chain seems likely to become the norm in the immediate future. Companies therefore need to prepare for uncertainty, adapting their operations to become increasingly agile while developing improved methods to derive maximum value from existing and future investments in extraction, refining and distribution systems and equipment.
Asset Management & cost optimization
The oil and gas sector has from the early days of volume production and commercialization led the world in the use of predictive and preventative maintenance, developing models followed by many other sectors of industry. These techniques have been used as key tools to improve plant and process safety, efficiency and optimization and have underpinned the growth of a new discipline of asset management.
Asset management is based on a strategic assessment that identifies plant improvement opportunities based on criticality and then defines and applies the most appropriate solutions. The objective is to incorporate business goals, application challenges and organizational culture into a road map that improves the reliability, performance and functionality of all operational extraction, process and distribution assets. A methodology of Asset Efficiency Optimization (AEO) is then applied to ensure that every asset is utilized as efficiently as possible, to maximize output without increasing capital expenditure, while reducing overall maintenance and operational costs.
A successful asset management program depends on a clearly defined strategy. This has to be driven by business goals, starting with an understanding of the current situation and a vision of where the business needs to be to achieve optimum performance.
Ref: PWC http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/perspectives/2015-oil-gas-trends
This can be a difficult process to manage due to the complexity of the production and management systems found in many large, multi-site, multi-national oil and gas businesses. The starting point is generally to carry out a client needs analysis (CNA). This is based on a straightforward 40 question survey to provide a snapshot of the operation of each production facility, map the way in which its reliability processes are functioning and its position on the maintenance maturity continuum, benchmarked against industry averages and best practices. (see fig 1).
Once complete, the CNA provides the key data to draw up a detailed AEO plan to improve plant reliability and asset utilization. This work management procedure addresses four key areas: maintenance strategy, work identification, work control and work execution, providing an integrated methodology that reflects the unique processes, culture and technology at each facility or operation.
Taking a structured approach to asset management will be familiar to many companies in the oil and gas sector, especially larger organizations. However, what tends to occur is that over time carefully planned long term asset management programs become disrupted, due to financial restrictions, plant updates, company acquisitions, changes in regulations or the launch of new products. As a result, the viewpoint of managers and engineers becomes focused on short term internal issues, pushing longer term plans down the order of priority.
It's also worth noting that although many companies in the sector have extremely effective asset management and plant reliability processes, these are not always systemized. Information and knowledge has been gained by plant engineers and operators over many years and remains largely locked in their heads, with only a small proportion being recorded and catalogued in a way that can easily be assimilated by new employees or third party contractors
A CNA analysis is a simple method of beginning the process, and can lead to the next phase, called an SKF Streamlined Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) project, where it is possible to begin capturing much of this valuable information in a way that is meaningful to plant engineers and senior managers alike.
Long term vision
The scale and complexity of most oil and gas operations means that to be truly successful an asset management strategy requires a clear vision and a long term tactical implementation plan. Anything less will almost certainly lead to an increase in operating costs, with the risk of growing levels of equipment downtime and system unreliability.
The growing market volatility and pressure on margins, combined with factors such as staff and skills shortages, and the particular demands of managing and maintaining oil and gas process systems, means that effective asset management can be a tough challenge. For many businesses, partnering with an experienced, knowledgeable and specialized partner such as SKF provides a far more cost-effective option. Outsourcing all or strategic parts of the process can deliver greater flexibility, accountability and control; it can also relieve the pressure on existing resources, for example, freeing internal engineering teams to concentrate on other business-critical activities.
One organization that has decided to outsource its asset management process by partnering with SKF is a major US oil and gas pipeline transportation company. The business operates over 12,000 miles of pipeline, 150 main pumping stations and a number of key distribution terminals at railheads, ports and road hubs. Over a ten-year period, however, the company has undergone several mergers and changes in ownership. Senior managers recognized that this had led to a gradual loss of focus on machine reliability, with inconsistent practices and methods of operation across the pipeline and distribution network; they also understood that the company's predictive maintenance strategy required a complete revaluation but that the business lacked the necessary in-house resources to carry this out effectively.
Commissioned to carry out a CNA study and then to provide condition monitoring services using our network of field based service technicians to assess the status of around 700 pipeline assets across North America.
We later began investigating the most valuable assets, primarily at a number of key distribution terminals, focusing on critical systems and equipment. An important element in this procedure was the use of SKF's RCM techniques. These concentrated on dominant failure modes and the effects of these failures; we then recommended specific actions to prevent problems reoccurring. Non-critical events were also evaluated and appropriate actions taken to optimize maintenance costs and increase productivity. The same approach is now being applied to the pipeline network of pumping stations.
SKF subsequently worked with the customer to begin developing standard job plans, which defined the critical steps that were required for each monitoring and maintenance activity, for example the repair of pump motors, including a list of the tools and parts needed, the repair steps involved and the time and resources required. This plan will be extended still further with a spare parts and stores optimization program (SPO), which minimizes stockholding and costs while improving the availability and location of key components to ensure that repairs are carried out quickly and cost-effectively.
This strategic approach to asset management has had both short and long term benefits for the customer. Outsourcing the management of condition monitoring services, paid for via an agreed monthly management fee, has allowed our customer to move the costs from CAPEX to OPEX budgets, making it far easier to cost-justify the program and improve cash-flow. Our strategic approach to asset management provides a clearly defined and consistent operating methodology that can easily be adapted as the needs of the customer's business or the operating environment change, giving them a solution that is both secure and future-proof. Perhaps most importantly, we've delivered savings of over $1million in the first twelve months of the contract, through improved asset uptime and productivity, and reduced repair and maintenance costs. Savings that far outweigh the annual cost of the service contract.
Experience, knowledge & resources
Outsourcing is becoming increasingly common across industry, for core business services ranging from facilities management to logistics and IT. For companies in the oil and gas sector the challenge in outsourcing the management of mission and safety critical assets is finding a partner with the requisite knowledge, experience and global resources to provide the reassurance that each and every asset will be monitored and maintained to the highest standards at all times.
Major suppliers such as SKF are able to provide this reassurance. Just as importantly, as they have specific and specialized skills in the field of asset management, condition monitoring and preventative maintenance, they are able to deliver better results, faster and more efficiently than a comparable in-house function. An outsourced asset management partner adds an extra strategic dimension to the work of in-house maintenance and engineering teams, and can bring a fresh passion and sense of purpose. Ultimately, the outcome should be operational efficiencies, cost savings and improving levels of asset optimization that allows oil and gas companies to become increasingly agile in response to growing market volatility. At a recent program review meeting with the pipeline customer, a stakeholder applauded the fact that no asset under the SKF monitoring program had experienced a failure that could have been detected in 3 years. One of their seasoned rotating equipment specialists commented that "I can't remember a contract or working relationship with a vendor that has been this close-knit. This reinforces the concept that success is not just about technology, but more about the people, their experience, their commitment personally and as part of a team."
Aktiebolaget SKF
For further information, please contact:
Press Relations: Nia Kihlström, +46 31-337 2897; +46 706 67 28 97; email@example.com
SKF is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 15,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2014 were SEK 70 975 million and the number of employees was 48 593. www.skf.com
® SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group.