SPSS Topics Discussion > Factor Analysis for non-metric variables
Hi Christina!
I'm a little unclear why you'd want to include those type of variables in a factor analysis (FA). What latent construct are you trying to model/examine in the FA? The fact that your matrix isn't "positive definite" can mean a lot of things, but one possibility is that there isn't sufficient correlation between your variables to conduct the FA. Again, what latent construct are you wanting to examine?
Jeremy Taylor
Exploratory factor analysis is a statistical technique that is used to reduce data to a smaller set of summary variables and to explore the underlining theoretical structure of the phenomena. It is used to identify the structure of the relationship between the variable and the respondent. Exploratory factor analysis can be performed by using the following two methods:
R-type factor analysis: When factors are calculated from the correlation matrix, then it is called R-type factor analysis.
Q-type factor analysis: When factors are calculated from the individual respondent, then it said to be Q-type factor analysis.
JohnBritt
Dear All:
I am now struggling with my MSc dissertation and there are two problems with Factor Analysis now. The first one is how can I include non-metric variables into FA, like Gender, Marital status, occupation, residential area,etc? The other one is every time I tried KMO and Barlett's test , the output never show up. there is an notification under the correlation matrix: "the matrix is not positive definite" I don't know what's the meaning for that. And How can I solve these two problems? Or anyone can kindly see my output result, I will send it to you.
Many Thanks
Christina