Hello Mohammad,

the first step is to understand that principal component and principal axis factoring are not to versions of EFA--only the second is EFA. PCA serves the efficient reduction of data to a smaller set of weighted composites with no implications of some model or data generating process. EFA's goal in contrast serves to identify underlying factors which hence aims at identifying a data generating process. The choice of some developers of SPSS to locate both in one menu (I think it is call dimensional reduction?) has created this false belief.

Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C., Strahan, E. J., MacCllum, R., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4(3), 272-299. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.4.3.272

Preacher, K. J., & MacCallum, R. C. (2003). Repairing tom swift's electric factor analysis machine. Understanding Statistics, 2, 13-43.

Russel, D. W., & Russell, D. W. (2002). In search for underlying dimensions - the use (and abuse) of factor analysis in personality and social psychology bulletin. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(2), 1629-1646. doi:10.1177/014616702237645

Borsboom, D. (2006). The attack of the psychometricians. Psychometrika, 71(3), 425-440. doi:10.1007/s11336-006-1447-6

HTH

Holger

Hi, Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan. Here are some good papers on EFA that I hope will help you.

Preacher, K. J., & MacCallum, R. C. (2003). Repairing Tom Swift's electric factor analysis machine. Understanding statistics: Statistical issues in psychology, education, and the social sciences, 2(1), 13-43.

Yong, A. G., & Pearce, S. (2013). A beginner’s guide to factor analysis: Focusing on exploratory factor analysis. Tutorials in quantitative methods for psychology, 9(2), 79-94.

Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical assessment, research, and evaluation, 10(1), 7.

Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological methods, 4(3), 272.

Williams, B., Onsman, A., & Brown, T. (2010). Exploratory factor analysis: A five-step guide for novices. Australasian journal of paramedicine, 8(3).

Thank you so much

Hi Mohammad, I found this podcast to be both entertaining and informative. It's a great review on the much-maligned PCA

https://quantitudepod.org/s3e03-principal-components-analysis-is-your-pal/

Mark