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Factor analysis is a statistical method that is used to determine the number of underlying dimensions contained in a set of observed variables and to identify the subset of variables that corresponds to each of the underlying dimensions. The underlying dimensions are referred to as continuous latent variables or factors. The observed variables are referred to as factor indicators. There are two types of factor analysis: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA is a technique that attempts to determine the minimum number of continuous latent variables or factors that can adequately describe the correlations among a set of observed variables. The model is exploratory in the sense that it does not impose a structure on the relationship between the observed variables and the continuous latent variables but only specifies the number of continuous latent variables. The goal of exploratory factor analysis is to find the smallest number of interpretable factors that can adequately explain the correlations among a set of variables. It is important that the factors be interpretable according to a recognized theory in addition to the model fitting the data well. Exploratory factor analysis results can be influenced by the set of variables included in the analysis. Therefore, it is important that the set of variables be developed carefully with the aim of measuring specific content areas prior to using EFA to study the intended dimensionality. When used with such a set of variables, EFA can be a useful tool not only for understanding the dimensionality of a set of variables but also for isolating variables that do not measure the dimensions well. EFA can be helpful during pilot work in the development of a set of items. In Mplus, factor indicators for EFA may be continuous, categorical (binary or ordered polytomous), or a combination of continuous and categorical. When factor indicators are all continuous, Mplus has four estimator choices: maximum likelihood (ML), maximum likelihood with robust standard errors and chi-square (MLM, MLMV), and unweighted least squares (ULS). When at least one factor indicator is categorical, Mplus has four estimator choices: weighted least squares (WLS), robust weighted least squares (WLSM, WLSMV), and unweighted least squares (ULS). |
| Thread (Start New Thread) | Last Post | Last Poster | Posts | ||||
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 | Rotations | 9-07-10 11:41 pm | luke fryer | 77 | |||
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| Calculating the % variance explain | 7-05-08 9:38 am | Bengt O. Muthen | 28 | |||
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| Binary data and factor analysis | 8-31-10 9:03 am | Linda K. Muthen | 113 | |||
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| Factor Scoring Coefficients | 5-26-09 11:50 am | Michael G Wheaton | 58 | |||
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| DF in EFA with Categorical Indicators | 4-21-09 3:57 pm | Bengt O. Muthen | 12 | |||
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| Standardized loadings | 7-29-10 4:18 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Unrotated factor loadings | 2-25-06 12:29 pm | bmuthen | 12 | |||
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| Loading greater than one in a EFA with categorical data | 9-01-09 8:19 am | Bengt O. Muthen | 16 | |||
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| How to set seed number in Monte Carlo study | 9-26-05 8:27 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Second-order EFA with dichotomous variables | 9-06-02 10:13 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| EFA eigenvalues | 9-30-09 8:42 am | Bengt O. Muthen | 24 | |||
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| Standard errors with categorical indicators | 9-22-09 10:17 am | Linda K. Muthen | 7 | |||
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| Implosion | 3-06-06 10:36 am | poker casino155 | 2 | |||
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| Factor analysis | 9-01-08 9:09 am | Linda K. Muthen | 29 | |||
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| EFA with 7-point items | 2-24-10 9:20 am | Linda K. Muthen | 7 | |||
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| Comparing covariance matrices | 3-24-05 2:16 pm | Anonymous | 10 | |||
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| Formatting the output | 1-30-10 8:43 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| CFA with tranformed variables | 4-23-10 8:45 am | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| ULS vs WLSMV | 10-08-04 12:14 pm | Daniel E Bontempo | 1 | |||
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| Residuals | 4-26-05 8:24 am | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| Creating a Measurement Model for a Single Composite Latent Variable | 11-03-04 11:02 am | bmuthen | 4 | |||
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| EFA with sampling weight | 3-10-10 9:32 am | Linda K. Muthen | 7 | |||
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| Appropriate sample size for Robust WLS? | 1-18-05 3:40 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| EFA with categorical indicators | 1-23-09 10:50 am | Linda K. Muthen | 21 | |||
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| Reading a Configuration | 5-06-06 12:28 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 45 | |||
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| EFA with ordinal complex data | 11-29-07 8:05 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| EFA IN A CFA FRAMEWORK: Identification constraint | 8-03-07 8:26 am | Linda K. Muthen | 17 | |||
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| Factor Loading larger than 1 | 9-15-05 2:32 pm | BMuthen | 2 | |||
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| Priors | 10-12-05 2:46 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| RMSR as an extraction criterion | 11-29-05 8:48 am | Florian Fiedler | 5 | |||
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| Monte Carlo Simulation | 12-02-05 12:29 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| MPLUS sample size limitation | 2-16-09 8:19 am | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| Reference about the inapropiate use of EFA | 1-21-06 7:40 am | bmuthen | 2 | |||
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| EFA in version 2 and 3 | 1-24-06 8:21 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| G factor in EFA w/ ordinal data | 3-13-06 10:56 am | Emerson Wickwire | 15 | |||
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| Factor Loading Cutoff | 3-08-08 7:15 am | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| Rotations in EFA | 4-05-06 6:46 am | Linda K. Muthen | 8 | |||
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| Request for help with Two Wave SEM | 4-06-06 5:25 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Text | 4-10-06 1:40 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Non-normal Continuous Data | 4-11-06 3:27 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Mplus vs sas | 6-21-06 8:08 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| EFA on repeated measures | 7-31-06 11:31 am | Linda K. Muthen | 8 | |||
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| Binary VS Dichotomous variable. | 9-07-06 11:15 pm | Teerasak Jindabot | 3 | |||
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| Correlation from Covariance Matrix | 9-21-06 7:13 pm | Thuy Nguyen | 2 | |||
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| When loadings depend on the order of the items | 10-24-06 7:30 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Differences between Mplus and SPSS in EFA | 4-30-10 8:28 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| EFA Monte Carlo | 11-22-06 2:34 pm | Bengt O. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Problems minimizing the function | 12-07-06 8:54 am | Roger Brown | 3 | |||
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| Mplus vs STATA | 12-20-06 6:40 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| External Monte Carlo Sets | 7-15-08 3:34 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 8 | |||
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| Regression expression with factor scores? | 1-23-07 7:06 pm | Koka Venkat | 3 | |||
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| Factor weights | 4-25-08 3:42 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 8 | |||
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| Factor Analysis with Ordinal and Continuous Data | 2-25-10 5:05 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 32 | |||
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| Factor analysis in Mplus and SPSS | 9-01-08 4:31 pm | aleksandar | 2 | |||
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| Programming | 6-10-07 6:48 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Sample size for EFA | 5-04-10 9:44 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| EFA with nominal data | 6-28-07 3:26 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Scores for binary/ordinal CFA? | 7-21-07 12:19 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| No convergence | 4-02-10 6:52 pm | Holly Ketterer | 16 | |||
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| Testlets and Factor Analysis | 2-06-08 5:22 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 5 | |||
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| Sample size for EFA | 3-04-08 6:00 am | Abdel | 3 | |||
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| Eigen plot in Mplus 5 | 12-03-08 1:44 pm | Anjali Gupta | 2 | |||
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| Rotation in Mplus 5 | 4-14-08 6:47 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Estimator in MPlus | 3-21-08 12:15 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Mplus font size | 3-09-09 10:16 am | Linda K. Muthen | 7 | |||
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| Monte Carlo Simulation with binary indicators | 4-03-08 12:42 pm | Bengt O. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Model constraints in montecarlo EFA | 4-07-08 8:55 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| RMSEA vs. RMSR | 11-04-09 5:53 am | Linda K. Muthen | 10 | |||
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| Ordinal data & EFA | 4-22-08 8:23 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Random selection for replication | 4-21-08 7:35 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Warning Message for EFA | 6-08-08 4:50 pm | Thomas A. Schmitt | 12 | |||
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| EFA with twin data | 12-22-08 4:48 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 9 | |||
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| EFA Rotations | 5-27-08 10:27 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Good value for percentage of variance explained | 6-03-08 1:21 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| EFA Monte Carlo study | 6-09-08 8:31 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Problems in running EFA | 7-15-08 9:28 am | Student | 8 | |||
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| Specify Decimal Places | 7-28-08 11:40 am | Yu Kyoum Kim | 3 | |||
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| Standard Errors with ULS Estimator | 7-29-08 7:07 am | Yu Kyoum Kim | 3 | |||
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| CFI/TLI | 7-31-08 8:58 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Saving factor scores in ESEM | 2-25-09 9:26 am | statstudent | 5 | |||
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| EFA in SPSS, CFA in Mplus | 10-28-09 8:58 am | Heidi Keeler | 13 | |||
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| AIC/BIC with EFA | 10-10-08 4:32 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| EFA with categorical indicators | 10-26-08 9:09 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Modification indices for EFA in version 5 | 11-10-08 8:05 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Handling Heywood Cases | 11-24-08 7:50 am | Linda K. Muthen | 3 | |||
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| EFA plus monte carlo question | 12-26-08 2:23 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| WLS vs MLR in EFA w ordinal data | 7-28-09 8:32 am | Linda K. Muthen | 9 | |||
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| Can I use Mplus to analyse my data | 1-25-09 8:03 am | Joanne Pybis | 0 | |||
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| Correlation Matrix in Mplus and other softwares | 1-28-09 3:30 pm | Dorothee Durpoix | 5 | |||
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| Please help | 1-31-09 3:35 am | Paul Brzozowsky | 0 | |||
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| MLF/MLR | 2-04-09 3:19 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| CFA followed by EFA | 2-10-09 7:59 am | Thomas A. Schmitt | 3 | |||
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| Basic MPLUS Question | 2-16-09 7:02 am | Nicole Stanoff | 0 | |||
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| EFA w/ Skewed Dichotomous Variables | 2-23-09 3:36 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Kaiser-guttman rule | 3-08-09 11:45 am | Bengt O. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| RMSEA and SRMR <0.05 but Chi-quare P-value=0.000 | 3-20-09 10:56 am | Bengt O. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Determining rotated factor loading Significance | 3-22-09 11:46 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Efa simulations | 4-07-09 12:06 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Inquiry about number of observations | 4-21-09 4:02 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Monte Carlo EFA has been disallowed. | 4-17-09 9:00 am | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Modern Multidimensional Scaling | 4-24-09 11:15 am | Sean Mullen | 3 | |||
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| Path Analysis | 11-06-09 1:08 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| Principal component analysis | 6-18-09 10:47 am | Manuel | 3 | |||
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| General Syntax Question | 7-28-09 12:42 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Exploratory factor solutions | 8-02-09 7:36 am | monica | 0 | |||
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| Model Comparison EFA | 3-03-10 8:15 am | Linda K. Muthen | 12 | |||
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| WLSMV versus WLSM | 8-11-09 4:25 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Factor Loading Greater than one | 8-16-09 12:53 pm | Bengt O. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Variance accounted for in EFA | 9-17-09 8:34 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Saving latent variables | 9-24-09 2:54 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| EFA with categorical and continuous variables | 2-03-10 9:28 am | Linda K. Muthen | 8 | |||
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| Tucker's coefficient of congruence in EFA | 11-07-09 11:59 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Unexpected Termination | 11-16-09 7:32 am | Christopher Gonwa-Re | 0 | |||
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| Principal axis factoring | 1-03-10 12:28 pm | Bengt O. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Factor loading signs flipped | 2-18-10 11:12 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Wish list | 2-19-10 9:00 am | Alexandre Morin | 3 | |||
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| ESEM | 7-13-10 10:26 am | Linda K. Muthen | 5 | |||
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| Number of Reported Observations | 3-17-10 2:48 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| EFA with covariate | 4-07-10 4:26 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| RMSEA too high | 4-19-10 4:47 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Less than 2 categories? | 4-20-10 7:31 am | Rules Comm | 3 | |||
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| Hanging Variables/ NS Paths within my Model | 4-21-10 8:58 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Interpreting Two-Level EFA Model Test Results | 4-24-10 11:52 am | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| Splitting sample for EFA and CFA | 4-22-10 9:01 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Two stage least squares | 5-03-10 10:09 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Residual variances | 5-22-10 4:00 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 4 | |||
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| Sample statistics problem | 6-25-10 2:54 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Factor determinacy | 7-01-10 7:54 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Cross loading | 7-13-10 8:18 am | Bengt O. Muthen | 3 | |||
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| GEOMIN ROTATED LOADINGS | 8-01-10 8:32 pm | Bengt O. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| High-dimensional EFA (optimize run time) | 8-06-10 9:40 am | Jaime Derringer | 0 | |||
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| High-dimensional EFA (optimize run time) | 8-07-10 8:29 am | Bengt O. Muthen | 8 | |||
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| Compare factor loadings? | 8-08-10 11:09 am | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Ratio of factor loading to standard error | 8-11-10 3:22 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| What is the default method of EFA in MPLUS? | 8-12-10 2:30 pm | Linda K. Muthen | 2 | |||
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| Maximum number of factors in EFA | 8-19-10 1:20 pm | Olga Maslovskaya | 3 | |||
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| Negative residual variance | 9-05-10 11:46 am | Linda K. Muthen | 6 | |||
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| Factor extraction | 9-07-10 11:52 pm | luke fryer | 1 | |||
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