Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Why Adding Values on a Scale Can Lead to Measurement Error

July 22nd, 2020 by

Whenever you use a multi-item scale to measure a construct, a key step is to create a score for each subject in the data set.

This score is an estimate of the value of the latent construct (factor) the scale is measuring for each subject.  In fact, calculating this score is the final step of running a Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

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Member Training: A Guide to Latent Variable Models

July 1st, 2020 by

An extremely useful area of statistics is a set of models that use latent variables: variables whole values we can’t measure directly, but instead have to infer from others. These latent variables can be unknown groups, unknown numerical values, or unknown patterns in trajectories.

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One of the Many Advantages to Running Confirmatory Factor Analysis with a Structural Equation Model

February 23rd, 2020 by

Based on questions I’ve been asked by clients, most analysts prefer using the factor analysis procedures in their general statistical software to run a confirmatory factor analysis.

While this can work in some situations, you’re losing out on some key information you’d get from a structural equation model. This article highlights one of these.

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First Steps in Structural Equation Modeling: Confirmatory Factor Analysis

February 7th, 2020 by

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is the fundamental first step in running most types of SEM models. You want to do this first to verify the measurement quality of any and all latent constructs you’re using in your structural equation model.

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Confirmatory Factor Analysis: How To Measure Something We Cannot Observe or Measure Directly

June 18th, 2018 by


Many times in science we are intrigued to measure an underlying characteristic that cannot be observed or measured directly. This measure is hypothesized to exist to explain variables, such as behavior, that can be observed.

The measurable variables are called manifest variables. The unmeasurable are called latent variables.

Latent variables are often called factors, especially in the context of factor analysis.

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Three Myths and Truths About Model Fit in Confirmatory Factor Analysis

June 11th, 2018 by

We mentioned before that we use Confirmatory Factor Analysis to evaluate whether the relationships among the variables are adequately represented by the hypothesized factor structure. The factor structure (relationships between factors and variables) can be based on theoretical justification or previous findings.

Once we estimate the relationship indicators of those factors, the next task is to determine the extent to which these structure specifications are consistent with the data. The main question we are trying to answer is:

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