Announcing the November meeting of the WA Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia. Our guest speaker is Dr KD Dang, Senior Lecturer at The University of Western Australia.

Please note the change of date to the first week of November.

Date: Tuesday, 4 November 2025.
Time: 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (AWST)
Location: Robert Street Lecture Theatre, The University of Western Australia.

Presentation

Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling:
Methods and Applications

Dr KD Dang, The University of Western Australia

Structural equation models (SEMs) are commonly used to study the structural relationship between observed variables and latent constructs. For example, a person’s cognitive function can be assessed through their performance on a battery of neurodevelopmental tests. Recently, Bayesian fitting procedures for SEMs have received more attention, as they overcome the issues of frequentist approaches when the number of observations is small and facilitate the adoption of more flexible model structures. In this talk, I will discuss the challenges of Bayesian estimation of SEMs, through an example of their application in analysing the dose-response relation between prenatal alcohol exposure and child cognition. I will then introduce our framework for fitting Bayesian SEMs via variational approximations, that provides a fast alternative to Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures.

About the Speaker

Dr Khue-Dung (KD) Dang is a Senior Lecturer in Statistics at the University of Western Australia. KD received her PhD from the University of New South Wales in 2020. Prior to joining UWA, she was an ACEMS Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Technology Sydney (2019-2021) and then a Lecturer in Data Science and Statistics at the University of Melbourne (2021-2024).

KD’s research interests lie in Bayesian computation and Bayesian modelling, with a focus on developing efficient methods for Bayesian inference in settings involving multiple outcomes data. She also works on simulation-based methods for large data sets.

Refreshments and Dinner

Members and visitors are invited to mingle over wine and cheese from 5:30 PM onwards at the venue. Following the meeting, all are invited to dine at a nearby restaurant. Visitors are welcome.

Meeting Directions

The Robert Street Lecture Theatre (RBST[G16]; 272.G16) is located on the ground floor of the Robert Street Building (RBST; 272 General Purpose Building 2) at The University of Western Australia. Its entrance is near the north-eastern corner of the building. See: UWA Maps, Google Maps.

Parking is free on the UWA Crawley campus after 5:00 PM. A convenient place to park is Car Park 51, accessible from Fairway Entrance 1.

For further information, please contact the WA Branch Secretary (ssa.wa.secretary@gmail.com).