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Recent Developments in the Factor Analysis of Categorical Variables

Educational Testing Service

Despite known shortcomings of the procedure, exploratory factor analysis of dichotomous test items has been limited, until recently, to unweighted analyses of matrices of tetrachoric correlations. Superior methods have begun to appear in the literature, in professional symposia, and in computer programs. This paper places these developments in a unified framework, from a review of the classical common factor model for measured variables through generalized least squares and marginal maximum likelihood solutions for dichotomous data. Further extensions of the model are also reported as work in progress.

Key Words: Binary variables • categorical data • contingency tables • covariance structures • factor analysis • item response theory • latent structure • tetrachoric correlations

Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, Vol. 11, No. 1, 3-31 (1986)
DOI: 10.3102/10769986011001003


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