g03ccc computes factor score coefficients from the result of fitting a factor analysis model by maximum likelihood as performed by
g03cac.
A factor analysis model aims to account for the covariances among
variables, observed on
individuals, in terms of a smaller number,
, of unobserved variables or factors. The values of the factors for an individual are known as factor scores.
g03cac fits the factor analysis model by maximum likelihood and returns the estimated factor loading matrix,
, and the diagonal matrix of variances of the unique components,
. To obtain estimates of the factors, a
matrix of factor score coefficients,
, is formed. The estimated vector of factor scores,
, is then given by:
where
is the vector of observed variables for an individual.
There are two commonly used methods of obtaining factor score coefficients.
The regression method:
and Bartlett's method:
See
Lawley and Maxwell (1971) for details of both methods. In the regression method as given above, it is assumed that the factors are not correlated and have unit variance; this is true for models fitted by
g03cac. Further, for models fitted by
g03cac,
where
is the diagonal matrix of eigenvalues of the matrix
, as described in
g03cac.
The factors may be orthogonally rotated using an orthogonal rotation matrix,
, as computed by
g03bac. The factor scores for the rotated matrix are then given by
.
-
1:
– Nag_FacScoreMethod
Input
-
On entry: indicates which method is to be used to compute the factor score coefficients.
- The regression method is used.
- Bartlett's method is used.
Constraint:
or .
-
2:
– Nag_FacRotation
Input
-
On entry: indicates whether a rotation is to be applied.
- A rotation will be applied to the coefficients and the rotation matrix, , must be given in r.
- No rotation is applied.
Constraint:
or .
-
3:
– Integer
Input
-
On entry: the number of observed variables in the factor analysis, .
Constraint:
.
-
4:
– Integer
Input
-
On entry: the number of factors in the factor analysis, .
Constraint:
.
-
5:
– const double
Input
-
Note: the th element of the matrix is stored in .
On entry: the matrix of unrotated factor loadings,
, as returned by
g03cac.
-
6:
– Integer
Input
-
On entry: the stride separating matrix column elements in the array
fl.
Constraint:
.
-
7:
– const double
Input
-
On entry: the diagonal elements of
, as returned by
g03cac.
Constraint:
, for .
-
8:
– const double
Input
-
On entry: the eigenvalues of the matrix
, as returned by
g03cac.
Constraint:
, for .
-
9:
– const double
Input
-
Note: the th element of the matrix is stored in .
On entry: if
, then
r must contain the orthogonal rotation matrix,
, as returned by
g03bac.
If
then
r need not be set.
-
10:
– Integer
Input
-
On entry: the stride separating matrix column elements in the array
r.
Constraint:
if then .
-
11:
– double
Output
-
On exit: the matrix of factor score coefficients, . contains the factor score coefficient for the th factor and the th observed variable, for and .
-
12:
– Integer
Input
-
On entry: the stride separating matrix column elements in the array
fs.
Constraint:
.
-
13:
– NagError *
Input/Output
-
The NAG error argument (see
Section 7 in the Introduction to the NAG Library CL Interface).
Accuracy will depend on the accuracy requested when computing the estimated factor loadings using
g03cac.
Background information to multithreading can be found in the
Multithreading documentation.
To compute the factor scores using the factor score coefficients, the values for the observed variables first need to be standardized by subtracting the sample means and, if the factor analysis is based upon a correlation matrix, dividing by the sample standard deviations. This may be performed using
g03zac. The standardized variables are then post-multiplied by the factor score coefficients. This may be performed using functions from
the
F16 Chapter Introduction, for example
f16yac.
If principal component analysis is required, the function
g03aac computes the principal component scores directly. Hence, the factor score coefficients are not needed.
The example is taken from
Lawley and Maxwell (1971). The correlation matrix for 220 observations on six school subjects is input and a factor analysis model with two factors fitted using
g03cac. The factor score coefficients are computed using the regression method.