
Published online:
18 September 2014
Published in print:
30 April 2014
Online ISBN:
9780262322379
Print ISBN:
9780262027366
Contents
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3.1 Introduction 3.1 Introduction
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3.2 The Inferential Nature of Exploratory Factor Analysis 3.2 The Inferential Nature of Exploratory Factor Analysis
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3.2.1 The Nature of Abductive Inference 3.2.1 The Nature of Abductive Inference
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3.2.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Abduction 3.2.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Abduction
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3.2.3 The Principle of the Common Cause 3.2.3 The Principle of the Common Cause
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3.2.4 Exploratory Factor Analysis and the Principle of the Common Cause 3.2.4 Exploratory Factor Analysis and the Principle of the Common Cause
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3.3 Common Factor Analysis and Scientific Method 3.3 Common Factor Analysis and Scientific Method
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3.3.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Scientific Method 3.3.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Scientific Method
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3.4 Exploratory Factor Analysis, Phenomena Detection, and Explanatory Theories 3.4 Exploratory Factor Analysis, Phenomena Detection, and Explanatory Theories
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3.4.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Phenomena Detection 3.4.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Phenomena Detection
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3.4.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Explanatory Theories 3.4.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Explanatory Theories
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3.4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis and the Specter of Underdetermination 3.4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis and the Specter of Underdetermination
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3.5 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis 3.5 Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis
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3.6 Summary and Conclusion 3.6 Summary and Conclusion
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Chapter
3 Theory Generation: Exploratory Factor Analysis
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Published:April 2014
Cite
Haig, Brian D., 'Theory Generation: Exploratory Factor Analysis', Investigating the Psychological World: Scientific Method in the Behavioral Sciences (Cambridge, MA , 2014; online edn, MIT Press Scholarship Online, 18 Sept. 2014), https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262027366.003.0003, accessed 17 May 2025.
Abstract
This chapter considers the abductive nature of theory generation by examining the logic and purpose of the method of exploratory factor analysis. It is argued that the common factors that result from using this method are not fictions, but latent variables, which are best understood as genuine theoretical entities. This realist interpretation of factors is supported by showing that exploratory factor analysis is an abductive generator of elementary theories that exploits an important heuristic of scientific methodology known as the principle of the common cause.
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