Principal Components Analysis

The author expounds the application of this multivariate analysis technique to the social sciences. He demonstrates what it can offer the researcher in analyzing particular sets of multidimensional data. He shows how it can be used to determine the number of factors to be retained in a factor analysis; for extracting the initial factors in a factor analysis; in selecting a subset of variables to represent a much larger set; and in coping with multicolinearity in regression analysis, a persistent problem in behavioural and social science data sets.