Exploratory Factor Analysis

A firm knowledge of factor analysis is key to understanding much published research in the social and behavioral sciences. Exploratory Factor Analysis by W. Holmes Finch provides a solid foundation in exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which along with confirmatory factor analysis, represents one of the two major strands in this field. The book lays out the mathematical foundations of EFA; explores the range of methods for extracting the initial factor structure; explains factor rotation; and outlines the methods for determining the number of factors to retain in EFA. The concluding chapter addresses a number of other key issues in EFA, such as determining the appropriate sample size for a given research problem, and the handling of missing data. It also offers brief introductions to exploratory structural equation modeling, and multilevel models for EFA. Example computer code, and the annotated output for all of the examples included in the text are available on an accompanying website. "Understanding factor analysis is key to understanding much published research in the social and behavioral sciences. This volume provides a solid foundation in exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which along with confirmatory factor analysis, represents one of the two major strands in this field. The book lays out the mathematical foundations of EFA; explores the range of methods for extracting the initial factor structure; explains factor rotation; and outlines the methods for determining the number of factors to retain in EFA. The concluding chapter addresses a number of other issues in EFA such determining the appropriate sample size and handling missing data, and it offers brief introductions to EFA with structural equation modeling and multilevel models for EFA. Example computer code, and the annotated output for all of the examples included in the text are available on an accompanying website"-- Provided by publisher COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT PAGE CONTENTS SERIES EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION TO FACTOR ANALYSIS CHAPTER 2 - MATHEMATICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF FACTOR ANALYSIS CHAPTER 3 - METHODS OF FACTOR EXTRACTION IN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS CHAPTER 4 - METHODS OF FACTOR ROTATION CHAPTER 5 - METHODS FOR DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF FACTORS TO RETAIN IN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS CHAPTER 6 - FINAL ISSUES IN FACTOR ANALYSIS REFERENCES INDEX