Statistical Role of CB-SEM Vs PLS-SEM in the Field of Social Science

Abstract

There are various statistical method which are available for social science researchers but which technique will be appropriate for their research is the big challenge. When research is based on covariance, CB-SEM approach is used and when it is based on total variance, then PLS-SEM is an appropriate approach. This paper tries to capture the attention of the researchers who face problems when to use CB-SEM and when to use PLS-SEM. With the help of this paper, the effort is made to clearly define that CB-SEM is a parametric approach and PLS-SEM is non parametric approach. In case of PLS-SEM, two measurement models are considered namely measurement model(outer model) and structural model(Inner Model). In case of PLS-SEM, internal consistency reliability is checked with the help of two namely Cronbach’s alpha and Composite reliability and there are other ways of checking reliability and validity such as Composite reliability, Discriminant validity, HTMT and overall model fit with the help of inner relationship between the constructs. In case of CB-SEM, Fornell Larcker method is an appropriate method and finally, overall model fit is checked. With the help of this paper, I try to elaborate the conceptual knowledge of CB-SEM and PLS based SEM.