PLS-SEM-power: A Shiny App and R package for Computing Required Sample Size and Minimum Detectable Effect Size in PLS-SEMs

Abstract

Despite its evanescent nature, statistical power is crucial for planning Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) studies. This brief paper introduces PLS-SEM-power, a Shiny Application and R package that implements the inverse square root method by Kock and Hadaya (2018) to calculate both the minimum required sample size (a priori analysis) and the Minimum Detectable Effect Size (MDES, sensitivity analysis), given a chosen significance level (alpha level) at 80% power (1 - beta). The software supports both one-tailed and two-tailed calculations, with one-tailed calculations as the default following the formulation of Kock and Hadaya (2018), and provides an intuitive user interface, facilitating reproducible and easily accessible analyses in diverse research contexts.

arXiv commentfor the associated Shiny App, see https://aleansani.shinyapps.io/pls-sem-power for the user guide and code, see https://github.com/AleAnsani/plssempower