Explain confirmatory factor analysis and give examplesSoluti

Explain confirmatory factor analysis and give examples

Solution

Confirmatory factor analysis is most commonly used in social research. The objective of confirmatory factor analysis is to test whether the data fits a hypothesized measurement model. In this method, the researcher first develops a hypothesis based on the underlying measures used, and may subject it to constraints based on these \'a priori\' hypothesis. By imposing these constraints, the researcher is forcing the model to be consistent with his/her theory. If the constraints the researcher has imposed on the model are inconsistent with the sample data, then the results of statistical tests of model fit will indicate a poor fit, and the model will be rejected. If the fit is poor, it may be due to some items measuring multiple factors. It might also be that some items within a factor are more related to each other than others.

For more information, please look up : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmatory_factor_analysis

Confirmatory factor analysis can be used in any social research, or as a first step to assess the proposed measurement model in a structural equation model.