Abstract
Factor analysis is a branch of analysis of variance used to investigate the structure of a data set. Consider a data set x ij resulting from the observation of several variables j on several objects i. If the data set arises from a complex multidimensional process about which little is known a priori statistical analysis of the data itself might profitably be used to gain insights into various characteristics of the processes which generated the data set. In particular, statistical techniques can be used to: (1) search for a simpler representation of the underlying processes which generated the data by reducing the dimension of the variable space in which the objects are represented; (2) look for the interactions among the variables by forming linear clusters of variables; and (3) seek characterizations of the clusters of variables which relate them to the underlying processes which generated the data set being analysed. Factor analysis performs all three functions.
This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, 1st edition, 1987. Edited by John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman
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Adelman, I. (1987). Factor Analysis. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_72-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_72-1
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