An application of singular value decomposition to the factor analysis of MMPI items

Abstract

Several measurement problems were identified in the literature concerning the fidelity with which the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) assesses psychopathology. A straightforward solution to some of these problems is to develop an orthogonal basis in the MMPI; however, there are 550 items, and this is a cumbersome task even for modern computers. The method of alternating least squares was employed to yield a singular value decomposition of these measures on 682 prison inmates. Unsystematic or sample-specific error variance was minimized through a two-stage least squares split thirds replication design. The relative explanatory power of models of psychopathology based on external, internal, naive, and construct-oriented measurement strategies is discussed.