Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Factor Analysis and What Does It Do?Types of Factor AnalysisAdvantages and Disadvantages of Factor AnalysisHow Is Factor Analysis Used in Psychology?
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Factor Analysis and What Does It Do?
Types of Factor Analysis
Advantages and Disadvantages of Factor Analysis
How Is Factor Analysis Used in Psychology?
Close
The primary goal of factor analysis is to distill a large data set into a working set of connections or factors.
But what is it, what are some real-world examples, and what are the different types? In this article, we’ll answer all of those questions.
Understanding Methods for Research in Psychology
The primary goal of factor analysis is to distill a large data set into a working set of connections or factors.Dr. Jessie Borelli, PhD, who works at the University of California-Irvine, uses factor analysis in her work on attachment.
She is doing research that looks into how people perceive relationships and how they connect to one another. She gives the example of providing a hypothetical questionnaire with 100 items on it and using factor analysis to drill deeper into the data.“So, rather than looking at each individual item on its own I’d rather say, ‘Is there is there any way in which these items kind of cluster together or go together so that I can… create units of analysis that are bigger than the individual items.”
Factor analysis is looking to identify patterns where it is assumed that there are already connections between areas of the data.
An Example Where Factor Analysis Is Useful
One common example of a factor analysis is when you are taking something not easily quantifiable, likesocio-economic status, and using it to group together highly correlatedvariableslike income level and types of jobs.
Factor analysis isn’t just used in psychology but also deployed in fields like sociology, business, and technology sector fields like machine learning.
There are two types of factor analysis that are most commonly referred to: exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.
Types of Factor AnalysisHere are the two types of factor analysis:Exploratory analysis: The goal of this analysis is to find general patterns in a set of data points.Confirmatory factor analysis: The goal of this analysis is to test various hypothesized relationships among certain variables.
Here are the two types of factor analysis:Exploratory analysis: The goal of this analysis is to find general patterns in a set of data points.Confirmatory factor analysis: The goal of this analysis is to test various hypothesized relationships among certain variables.
Here are the two types of factor analysis:
Exploratory Analysis
In an exploratory analysis, you are being a little bit more open-minded as a researcher because you are using this type of analysis to provide some clarity in your data set that you haven’t yet found. It’s an approach that Borelli uses in her own research.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
On the other hand, if you’re using a confirmatory factor analysis you are using the assumptions or theoretical findings you have already identified to drive your statistical model.
Unlike in an exploratory factor analysis, where the relationships between factors and variables are more open, a confirmatory factor analysis requires you to select which variables you are testing for. In Borelli’s words:
“When you do a confirmatory factor analysis, you kind of tell your analytic program what you think the data should look like, in terms of, ‘I think it should have these two factors and this is the way I think it should look.'”
Psychology Research Jargon You Should Know
Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of factor analysis.
Advantages
You Can Analyze Fewer Data PointsWhen answering your research questions, it’s a lot easier to be working with three variables than thirty, for example.
You Can Analyze Fewer Data Points
When answering your research questions, it’s a lot easier to be working with three variables than thirty, for example.
Disadvantages
Disadvantages include that the factor analysis relies on the quality of the data, and also may allow for different interpretations of the data.For example, during one study, Borelli found that after deploying a factor analysis, she was still left with results that didn’t connect well with what had been found in hundreds of otherstudies.
Due to the nature of the sample being new and being more culturally diverse than others being explored, she used an exploratory factor analysis that left her with more questions than answers.
Scientific Method Steps in Psychology Research
The goal of factoranalysisin psychology is often to make connections that allow researchers to develop models with common factors in ways that might be hard or impossible to observe otherwise.
So, for example, intelligence is a difficult concept to directly observe. However, it can be inferred from factors that we can directly measure on specific tests.
Factor analysis has often been used in thefield of psychologyto help us better understand the structure of personality.
This is due to the multitude of factors researchers have to consider when it comes to understanding the concept of personality. This area of personality research is certainly not new, with easily findable research dating as far back as 1942 recognizing its power in personality research.
Why Are Statistics in Psychology Necessary?
4 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Britannica.Charles E. Spearman.United State Environmental Protection Agency.Exploratory Data Analysis.Flora DB, Curran PJ.An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data.Psychol Methods. 2004;9(4):466-491. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.9.4.466Wolfle D.Factor analysis in the study of personality.The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.1942;37(3):393–397.
4 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Britannica.Charles E. Spearman.United State Environmental Protection Agency.Exploratory Data Analysis.Flora DB, Curran PJ.An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data.Psychol Methods. 2004;9(4):466-491. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.9.4.466Wolfle D.Factor analysis in the study of personality.The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.1942;37(3):393–397.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Britannica.Charles E. Spearman.United State Environmental Protection Agency.Exploratory Data Analysis.Flora DB, Curran PJ.An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data.Psychol Methods. 2004;9(4):466-491. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.9.4.466Wolfle D.Factor analysis in the study of personality.The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.1942;37(3):393–397.
Britannica.Charles E. Spearman.
United State Environmental Protection Agency.Exploratory Data Analysis.
Flora DB, Curran PJ.An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data.Psychol Methods. 2004;9(4):466-491. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.9.4.466
Wolfle D.Factor analysis in the study of personality.The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.1942;37(3):393–397.
Meet Our Review Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
What is your feedback?
