Multidimensional Scaling Overview

In general, the goal of the analysis is to detect meaningful underlying dimensions that allow the researcher to explain observed similarities or dissimilarities (distances) between the investigated objects.

General Purpose

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) can be considered an alternative to factor analysis. For more information, see Factor Analysis. In factor analysis, the similarities between objects (for example, variables) are expressed in the correlation matrix. With muldimensional scaling you can analyze any kind of similarity or dissimilarity matrix, in addition to correlation matrices.