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Title: Exploratory or Confirmatory Factor Analysis?
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Suhr, Diana D.
Exploratory or Confirmatory Factor Analysis?
Presented: San Francisco, CA, SAS Users Group International Conference (SUGI31), March 2006
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: SAS Institute Inc.
Keyword(s): Children, Academic Development; Children, School-Age; Cognitive Development; Longitudinal Data Sets; Longitudinal Surveys; Methods/Methodology; Modeling; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Statistical Analysis; Statistics

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) could be described as orderly simplification of interrelated measures. EFA, traditionally, has been used to explore the possible underlying factor structure of a set of observed variables without imposing a preconceived structure on the outcome (Child, 1990). By performing EFA, the underlying factor structure is identified. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is a statistical technique used to verify the factor structure of a set of observed variables. CFA allows the researcher to test the hypothesis that a relationship between observed variables and their underlying latent constructs exists. The researcher uses knowledge of the theory, empirical research, or both, postulates the relationship pattern a priori and then tests the hypothesis statistically. The process of data analysis with EFA and CFA will be explained. Examples with FACTOR and CALIS procedures will illustrate EFA and CFA statistical techniques.
Bibliography Citation
Suhr, Diana D. "Exploratory or Confirmatory Factor Analysis?" Presented: San Francisco, CA, SAS Users Group International Conference (SUGI31), March 2006.