/ English Dictionary |
FACTOR ANALYSIS
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Any of several methods for reducing correlational data to a smaller number of dimensions or factors; beginning with a correlation matrix a small number of components or factors are extracted that are regarded as the basic variables that account for the interrelations observed in the data
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("factor analysis" is a kind of...):
correlational analysis (the use of statistical correlation to evaluate the strength of the relations between variables)
Domain category:
statistics (a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters)
Derivation:
factor analytical (of or relating to or the product of factor analysis)
factor analyze (to perform a factor analysis of correlational data)