Exploratory Factor Analysis

Question 1

A CFA is a:
A path model is a:
Put these two together:

Answer 1

• A CFA is a measurement model, it has no structure.
• A path model is a structural model, but it has no measurement component (LV).
• Put these two together in one model and you would have an SEM.

Question 2

Exploratory Factor Analysis

Answer 2

• used to discover the underlying structure of a relatively large set of variables
• meant to identify a set of latent constructs underlying your variables (i.e. do your variables belong to a group of subdomains?)
• No a priori hypothesis about how variables should cluster together
• Bottom up or data driven approach

Question 3

Dimensionality of the constructs

Answer 3

Unidimensional or multidimensional?

A low Cronbach’s alpha amongst the itens suggests that the items are multidimensional

Question 4

Idenification of Factors: Principal Component Analysis (PCA)