Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2025
Several theorems concerning properties of the communaltiy of a test in the Thurstone multiple factor theory are established. The following theorems are applicable to a battery of n tests which are describable in terms of r common factors, with orthogonal reference vectors.
1. The communality of a test j is equal to the square of the multiple correlation of test j with the r reference vectors.
2. The communality of a test j is equal to the square of the multiple correlation of test j with the r reference vectors and the n—1 remaining tests.
Corollary: The square of the multiple correlation of a test j with the n—1 remaining tests is equal to or less than the communality of test j. It cannot exceed the communality.
3. The square of the multiple correlation of a test j with the n—1 remaining tests equals the communality of test j if the group of tests contains r statistically independent ests teach with a communality of unity.
4. With correlation coefficients corrected for attenuation, when the number of tests increases indefinitely while the rank of the correlational matrix remains unchanged, the communality of a test j equals the square of the multiple correlation of test j with the n—1 remaining tests.
5. With raw correlation coefficients, it is shown in a special case that the square of the multiple correlation of a test j with the n—1 remaining tests approaches the communality of test j as a limit when the number of tests increases indefinitely while the rank of correlational matrix remains the same. This has not yet been proved for the general case.
The author wishes to express his appreciation of the encouragement and assistance given him by Dr. L. L. Thurstone.