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On the Identifiability of Parameters in Thurstone's Multiple Factor Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Olav Reiersøl
Olav Reiersøl*
Affiliation:
Purdue University
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Abstract

In econometric literature a parameter in a theoretical model has been called identifiable if it can be uniquely determined in terms of the joint probability distribution of the observed variables. In this paper the identifiability of parameters in four different factor analysis models is considered. The last of these four models corresponds to Thurstone's factor analysis. In Sections 7 and 11, the possibility of a statistical testing of the models is discussed. Section 10 deals with the problem of actually determining the parameter r (the number of common factors) in terms of the probability distribution of the observed variables.

Type
Original Paper
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 1950 , pp. 121 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © 1950 Psychometric Society

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Footnotes

*

This article will be included in Cowles Commission Paper, New Series, No. 39.

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