Factor Analysis Button

Click the button to display the Factor Analysis Startup Panel. Factor Analysis is used 1) to reduce the number of variables and 2) to detect structure in the relationships between variables.

The Factor Analysis module contains a wide range of statistics and options, and provides a comprehensive implementation of factor (and hierarchical factor) analytic techniques with extended diagnostics and a wide variety of analytic and exploratory graphs. It will perform principal components, common, and hierarchical (oblique) factor analysis. The output includes eigenvalues (regular, cumulative, relative), factor loadings, factor scores (which can be appended to the input data file, reviewed graphically as icons, and interactively recoded), and a number of more technical statistics and diagnostics. Available rotations include Varimax, Equamax, Quartimax, Biquartimax (either normalized or raw), and Oblique rotations. The factorial space can be plotted and reviewed "slice by slice" in either 2D or 3D scatterplots with labeled variable-points; other integrated graphs include Scree plots, various scatterplots, bar and line graphs, and others. Both raw data files and matrices of correlations can be used as input.

Confirmatory factor analysis and other related analyses can be performed with the Structural Equation Modeling and Path Analysis (SEPATH) module, where a designated Confirmatory Factor Analysis Wizard will guide you step-by-step through the process of specifying the model. See also the Principal Components and Classification Analysis module for advanced methods for classifying and mapping cases and variables.