Factor Analysis:

Exploratory research on a topic may identify many variables of possible interest, so many that their sheer number can become a hindrance to effective and efficient analysis.

Factor analysis is a “data reduction” technique that reduce the number of variables studied to a more limited number of underlying “factors.”

Factor analysis is based on a model that supposes that correlations between pairs of measured variables can be explained by the connections of the measured variables to a small number of non-measurable (latent), but meaningful variables, which are termed factors.

The aims of factor analysis are to: (i) identify the number of factors; (ii) define the factors as functions of the measured variables; (iii) study the factors which have been defined.

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