Factor Analysis of Ordinal Data and the Number of Response Categories
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Factor Analysis of Ordinal Data and the Number of Response Categories
Published Date
2021-05
Publisher
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Compared to the test factor model underlying factor analysis of continuous data, exploratory item factor analysis of ordinal data has received little attention. We investigated the effect of the number and distribution of response categories on several exploratory item factor analysis outcomes including congruence coefficients and bias between the original and reproduced correlation matrices among others. Data were simulated for various conditions including: simplicity of factor structure (simple/complex), factor correlations (uncorrelated, minimally correlated, moderately correlated), sample size (60, 150, 300, 750), number of response categories (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), and shape of response distribution (uniform, symmetrical, skewed). We used several criteria to investigate fit including RMSE, bias, etc. We conducted MANOVA followed by univariate ANOVAs and found that sample size had the most impact on the congruence coefficient and explained 45% of the variance. Relatedly, factor structure explained 32% of the variance in bias in correlations between the two matrices. The most impact for the number and shape of response categories was found on RMSE. Implications for practice, limitations, and directions for future research were discussed.
Description
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Abulela, M. A. A., Davenport, E. C., & Mrutu, A. P. (2021, June 9-11). Factor analysis of ordinal data and the number of response categories [Paper presentation]. National Council on Measurement in Education, (Virtually due to COVID-19).
Suggested citation
Abulela, Mohammed AA; Davenport, Ernest C; Mrutu, Amaniel P. (2021). Factor Analysis of Ordinal Data and the Number of Response Categories. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/226228.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.