principal factor analysis

an approach to identifying the dimensions underlying associations among a set of variables by using a covariance matrix of estimated communalites as input. Principal factor analysis assumes that all variables have been measured with some degree of error and requires that dimensions be extracted in a particular way. Specifically, the first dimension extracted must account for the maximum possible variance, having the highest squared correlation with the variables it underlies; the second dimension must account for the next maximal amount of variance and be uncorrelated with the previously extracted dimension; and so forth. The researcher retains a certain number of dimensions based on various criteria, including interpretations of factor loadings.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

Megan’s law

an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act requiring that state registries of convicted but released sex offenders be disseminated to the public so that communities will be notified of offenders’ presence in a particular neighborhood. More formally known as the Community Notification Act, it was initially passed in New Jersey in 1994 after a repeat sex offender murdered a 7-year-old girl named Megan Nicole Kanka; it became a federal law in 1996.