Factor Analysis Primer

A colleague recommended this online primer on factor analysis, which uses international relations as its case study.

clipped from www.hawaii.edu ANALYSIS By way of orientation, the first section of this paper will present a brief conceptual review of factor analysis. In the second section the scientific context of the method will be discussed. The major uses of factor analysis will be listed and its relation to induction and deduction, description and inference, causation and explanation, and classification and theory will be considered. To aid understanding, the third section will outline the geometrical and algebraic factor models, and the fourth section will define the factor matrices and their elements--the vehicles for presenting factor results. Since comprehending factor rotation is important for interpreting the findings, the fifth and final section is devoted to clarifying its significance.