# Path analysis (statistics) Path analysis is a statistical method for modeling directed relationships among variables, developed by the geneticist [[Sewall_Wright|Sewall Wright]] around 1918. Described as a form of multiple regression focused on causality, it is a specialized case of structural equation modeling that uses a single indicator for each variable rather than latent factors. ## Microsim — queued <p class="wt-pending"><strong>Microsim/diagram layer in the draft queue.</strong> Troy is building the interactive station for this concept by hand; the sourced overview below is complete and citable now.</p> ## Overview A path analysis is drawn the way a [[Causal_model|causal model]] is drawn — boxes for variables, arrows for the directed relationships between them — and then read with path-tracing rules that decompose an observed correlation into the separate paths, direct and indirect, that could have produced it. First applied in genetics, the technique now spans biology, psychology, sociology, and econometrics, and is considered a direct ancestor of the [[Bayesian_network|Bayesian network]] and other modern causal-inference graphs. **On the spine:** [[Sewall_Wright]] · [[Causal_model]] · [[Bayesian_network]] · [[Causal_loop_diagram]]. ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_analysis_(statistics)) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Path_analysis_(statistics)) ## Previous hub tags Hubs: `Systems`. Portals: [[PORTAL_Causal_loop_diagram]]. --- *Repopulated 2026-08-05 · text transfer · 0 deletions.*