Dataframe as model syntax (CFA)

[Chiel Mues]

Say I have a dataframe such as this:

Factor:        Item:

Factor_A     Item_1

Factor_A     Item_2

Factor_B     Item_3

Factor_B     Item_4

So just the factor, and the name of the Item that belongs to that factor.

Is it possible to feed this into lavaan as model syntax?

[Mauricio Garnier-Villarreal]

If it is for a CFA, stating which item goes in which factor, yes, you can do something like this

dd <- data.frame(factor=rep(c("f1","f2","f3"),4), item=paste0("it_",1:12))
dd
paste(dd$factor, dd$item, sep="=~") ### lavaan will take this as syntax