My primary goal in learning about these tools is to gain a thorough understanding of statistical concepts such as regression, correlation, and hypothesis testing. I also want to know how to use smartPLS to analyze survey or experimental data for structural equation modeling. In the course of this week, I visited the official SmartPLS website: https://www.smartpls.com/courses. This gave me the opportunity to learn about the company and the different types of licenses available to people. The website also has a lot of resources (recommended readings, other books, tutorials, and videos) to help users understand the tool. (https://www.smartpls.com/documentation).
I watched a YouTube video SmartPLS 4 Tutorial Guide 1: Getting Started. Then, I was able to download and install the tool on my laptop to enable me to navigate the workspace as indicated in the video.
This week, I learnt how to create a workspace, name a project, import data from an Excel sheet (csv file) into the workspace, choose a data set (ordinal, categorical, and measurement), and identify missing values. My journey continues, and in the coming week I will be learning about the terminologies used and the theoretical background of Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). I think this will enhance my understanding of how models are built. I already have a set of data I plan to use. I think I will still have to come up with some kind of question or hypothesis to help me navigate the tool. Here are some of the useful resources for this week’s learning: