Exploratory Factor Analysis with SAS

Extraction Criteria

Theory. We are proponents of theory-driven analysis.[1] Researchers often perform an EFA because someone designed an instrument to measure particular constructs or factors. If the theoretical framework for the instrument is sound, we should start with the expectation that we should see that structure in the data. Instruments are rarely perfect (especially the first time they are examined), and theoretical expectations are not always supported. But unless one is on a fishing expedition in a data set with no a priori ideas about how the analysis should turn out,[2] this is as good a place as any to start. Regardless, the result of an EFA must be a sensible factor structure that is easily understood, whether that final structure ...