Uses of factor analysis in counseling psychology research.

Abstract

Factor analysis is an analytic technique that permits the reduction of a large number of correlated variables to a smaller number of latent dimensions. The goal of factor analysis is to achieve parsimony by using the smallest number of explanatory concepts to explain the maximum amount of common variance in a correlation matrix. In this article, we provide an overview of factor analysis techniques. We provide a conceptual explanation of factor analysis, a discussion of the relation of factor analysis to other multivariate techniques, and an explanation of characteristics of the data to consider in determining the appropriateness of factor analysis. We review considerations in making decisions about communality estimates, methods of factor extraction, the number of factors to rotate, and methods of factor rotation. We conclude with suggestions on how to interpret factor analysis results, calculate factor scores, and report factor analysis results.

Komplexität modellieren

“…He answered it with a vision that challenged habits of thought that had lead nowhere. This vision he kept pursuing for the rest of his life", Schönemann & Borg (1996, p. 249) Übersichtsreferate über die exploratorisch-faktorenanalytische Forschungsmethodik mit Anwendungsorientierung aus jüngerer Zeit -die meisten ohne grundlegende Kritik -stammen von Moosbrugger & Hartig (2002) und Fabrigar et al (1999), denen Artikel mit ähnlichem Ziel vorausgingen: Stevenson (1993), Tinsley & Tinsley (1987), Ford et al (1986), Glass & Taylor (1966), Cattell (1965), Peel (1953). Die am häufigsten zitierten englisch-sprachigen Lehrbücher zur exploratorischen Faktorenanalyse sind -mit z. T. Angabe der letzten und ersten Auflage: Comrey & Lee (1992, 1973, Child (1990Child ( ,1971, Gorsuch (1983Gorsuch ( , 1974, Harman (1976Harman ( , 1968, Mulaik (1972).…”

A Visitor Experience Scale: Historic Sites and Museums

“…Regarding the size of development sample, Nunnally (1978) suggests that three hundreds respondents would be an adequate number to minimize subject variance. One of the rules-of-thumb for the sample size requires four or five respondents per item (Stevens, 1986;Tinsley & Tinsley, 1987). This study increased its sample size to five hundreds, which exceeds the normal expectation of sample size and is regarded as ‗very good' for the purpose of factor analysis (Comrey, 1973).…”

Evaluation of an instrument to assess the needs of men diagnosed with prostate carcinoma

“…This resulted in a sample size of 320 complete observations available for factor analysis procedures. This sample size of 320 was adequate to conduct factor analytic procedures 36,37 and offered a case-to-item ratio of approximately 6:1 for Part 1 and a case-to-item ratio of approximately 7:1 for Part 2 of the questionnaire. As an added check, the factor analyses were performed on the smaller sample of 230 with no imputed values for missing data.…”