The Effects of Manifest Residual Variances, Indicator Communality, and Sample Size on the χ2-Test Statistic of the Metric Invariance Model

In this contribution, we investigate the effects of manifest residual variance, indicator communality and sample size on the χ2-test statistic of the metric measurement invariance model, i.e. the model with equality constraints on all loadings. We demonstrate by means of Monte Carlo studies that the χ2-test statistic relates inversely to manifest residual variance, whereas sample size and χ2-test statistic show the well-known pro- portional relation. Moreover, we consider indicator communality as a key factor for the size of the χ2-test statistic. In this context, we introduce the concept of signal-to-noise ratio as a tool for studying the effects of manifest residual error and indicator commu- nality and demonstrate its use with some examples. Finally, we discuss the limitations of this contribution and its practical implication for the analysis of metric measurement invariance models.