Exam 9: Factor Analysis

Factor scores are estimates of the scores participants would have received on each of the factors had they been measured directly.

The process by which the factors are determined from a larger set of variables is called extraction.

Rotation is a process by which a factor solution is made more interpretable by altering the underlying mathematical structure.

The main set of results obtained from a factor analysis consists of factor loadings.

Principal components analysis is usually the preferred method of factor extraction, especially when the focus of an analysis searching for an underlying structure is explanatory.

Interpretation of components or factors involves much subjective decision making on the part of the researcher.

Kaiser's rule states that only those components in principal components analysis whose eigenvalues are greater than 1 should be retained.

There are two basic types of factor analytic procedures, based on their overall intended function. They include:

Factor analysis analyzes variance.

An index provided inn the results of a factor analysis is the list of communalities for each variable.