4 EFA

This week will be a general introduction to latent variables and scaling procedures. We will discuss several different aspects of exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Most notably:

  • The differences between Principal Component Analyses (PCA) and Factor Analysis
  • Model estimation and factor extraction methods
  • Factor rotations

You will have to make decisions regarding each of these aspects when conducting a factor analysis. We will also discuss reliability and factor scores as means of evaluating the properties of a scale.

Homework before the lecture

  1. Watch the Lecture Recording for this week.
  2. Complete the Reading for this week, and answer the associated reading questions.

Homework before the practical

Complete the At-Home Exercises.

Practical content

During the practical you will work on the In-Class Exercises.