Practice with Factor Analysis

Introduction : This exercise is designed to provide experience in conducting and assessing a factor analysis. The items we will analyze are from the CTS2 (Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy & Sugarman, 1996). The data is from a study of high-risk post-partum mothers engaged in a study of the effects of paraprofessional home visitation and was collected one year following delivery of their child. Your task is to factor analyze the CTS2 data, following the instructions provided below, and provide an interpretation of the factor analysis results.

Steps:

1. Download the data file.
2. You will analyze all of the ODD numbered items shown below. Note that only the ODD numbered items are in the data file and that these represent what the respondent (the mother) said she did to her partner, not what her partner did to her. Items are numbered from HF2L101 to HF2L177. Use all the items in this range. Values of 7 & 9 must be assigned MISSING.
3. The examples below illustrate SPSS Windows activated from the ANALYZE DATA REDUCTION FACTOR menu options. Use these as examples to complete the three steps, factor EXTRACTION, factor ROTATION, and OPTIONS to control the look of the output. Limit the analysis to 5 factors only.
4. When you have completed the analysis, study the items and the Factor Pattern Matrix. One of the important steps in Factor Analysis and Principal Components Analysis is to name the factors. Decide what to call each of the five factors that have been extracted.
5. Describe your rational for naming the factors; then write the name of each factor on a new page and list the items that are included within that factor.

1. What is factor rotation? What type of rotation did you use in this analysis? Why do you think I asked you to use this type of rotation? How would a "varimax" rotation be different?
2. Describe "factor pattern matrix" and the "factor structure matrix." What are the differences between the two?
3. Are there items in your factor analysis that have been excluded because my examples below ask you to suppress any items with loadings of less than .4? Which items were these and why do you think they were excluded (i.e., why didn’t they fit the structure)?
4. Use the standard criteria for defining an acceptable factor analysis solution to answer the question is this a "good" factor structure? Make it clear why you have reached your conclusions
5. Run the alpha reliabilities of the items that form the individual factors? If you were going to use these as a group of scales would you have reliable scales?

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Solution: The downloadable solution consists of 15 pages, 1571 words and 8 charts.
Deliverable: Word Document