10: Factor Analysis in Educational Research

Abstract

Most educational researchers will admit to some kind of knowledge of factor analysis. The terminology is widely used, and the technique appears to be almost too easy to apply. It has been said that power corrupts; the technique of factor analysis is very powerful and robust for many sets of data, and, accordingly, the responsibility of the factor analyst to his colleagues is large. There are, however, reasonable guidelines for using factoranalytic techniques which permit the clarification of much data obtained in educational research and which at the same time restrain the practitioner from wasteful exercises at the computer.