This article proposes a comprehensive approach for assessing the quality and appropriateness of exploratory factor analysis solutions intended for item calibration and individual scoring. Three groups of properties are assessed: (a) strength and replicability of the factorial solution, (b) determinacy and accuracy of the individual score estimates, and (c) closeness to unidimensionality in the case of multidimensional solutions. Within each group, indices are considered for two types of factor-analytic models: the linear model for continuous responses and the categorical-variablemethodology model that treats the item scores as ordered-categorical. All the indices proposed have been implemented in a noncommercial and widely known program for exploratory factor analysis. The usefulness of the proposal is illustrated with a real data example in the personality domain.
Resumen: El presente artículo puede considerarse como una ampliación al trabajo de Lloret et al. (2014) en la que se discuten, de forma ampliada, dos tópicos de especial relevancia en análisis factorial de ítems: (a) la decisión acerca de la matriz de correlación más apropiada en cada caso, y (b) la determinación de soluciones finales semi-confirmatorias, que sean realistas, interpretables y que utilicen la información disponible por el investigador. La presentación de los dos tópicos no es neutral, sino que refleja las posiciones de los autores, por lo que debe ser también evaluada críticamente por parte del lector. En ambos casos se ofrecen recomendaciones prácticas. Sin embargo, el trabajo va especialmente dirigido a los investigadores aplicados con cierta orientación metodológica que quieren ir un poco más allá de las recomendaciones actualizadas propuestas anteriormente. Palabras clave: correlaciones producto-momento; correlaciones policóri-cas; modelo de respuesta graduada; estructura simple; rotaciones semiespecificadas; matriz diana; rotaciones ortogonales y oblicuas.Title: Exploratory Item Factor Analysis: Some additional considerations. Abstract: This article can be considered to be an extension of a previous work by Lloret et al. (2014) in which we discuss in more depth two particularly relevant topics in item factor analysis: (a) how to chose the most appropriate correlation matrix, and (b) how to arrive at a realistic and interpretable semi-confirmatory solution by making use of the available information. The discussion of these topics strongly reflects the views of the authors. So, we encourage the interested reader to take it critically. For both topics we offer practical recommendations. However, the article is mainly intended for applied researchers with a certain methodological penchant and who want to go beyond standard recommendations. Key words: Product-moment correlations; Polychoric correlations; Graded Response Model; Simple Structure; Semi-Specified rotations; Target Matrix; Orthogonal and Oblique Rotations.Pocas técnicas psicométricas han generado tanta controversia y tenido tantos altibajos como el análisis factorial exploratorio (AFE). Con respecto al primer punto, ha sido y sigue siendo con mucho, la técnica más usada en análisis de ítems, pero también la más criticada. Con respecto al segundo, el uso cada vez más generalizado de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales lo arrinconó hace unos años al limbo de las técnicas casi obsoletas. Un AFE podía tener cierta justificación en las etapas iniciales de un estudio. Sin embargo, a partir de aquí, la técnica 'correcta' era el más riguroso análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC). La realidad, sin embargo, es tozuda: la estructura de la mayor parte de los tests es inherentemente compleja y no casa bien con las restrictivas hipó-tesis del AFC. Parece pues que el AFE sigue siendo necesario para analizar las repuestas a los ítems.Los psicómetras, por su parte, no han dejado de investigar en AFE y de hacerlo evolucionar. Sin embargo, debido a ...
This article describes a general item response theory model for personality items that allows the information provided by the item response times to be used to estimate the individual trait levels. The submodel describing the item response times is a modification of Thissen's log-linear model and is based on the distance-difficulty hypothesis in personality measurement. First, the procedures for fitting the model and assessing the goodness of fit are described. Second, the gain in the precision of estimating the individual trait levels when the information provided by the response times is used is assessed. Finally, all the developments in this article are illustrated by means of an empirical example.
Spearman's factor-analytic model has been proposed as a unidimensional linear item response theory (IRT) model for continuous item responses. This article first proposes a reexpression of the model that leads to a form similar to that of standard IRT models for binary responses and discusses the item indices of difficulty discrimination and information. Next, the extension to the multiple-factor model is considered, and multidimensional counterparts of the item indices are proposed. The interpretation of the proposed measures and their usefulness in personality and attitude measurement are discussed and illustrated by means of two empirical examples.
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