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Factor Analysis Calculations by Tabulating Machines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

D. M. Hall
Affiliation:
University of Illinois
E. L. Welker
Affiliation:
University of Illinois
Isabelle Crawford
Affiliation:
University of Illinois

Abstract

I.B.M. tabulating equipment can be of considerable help in reducing the time and increasing the accuracy of multiple factor analysis, even if used for only a part of the calculations. Once the plugboard is wired and those cards punched which are used over and over again, problems involving any number of variables can be handled with dispatch. The correlation matrix is listed, the totals verified, and the signs changed on the tabulator. Then the factors and the residual coefficients are calculated by means of a calculator. Tucker's procedure has been modified by using a calculator instead of a multiplying punch, by reducing the number of cards used, by simplifying checks on calculations, by simplifying plugboard wiring, and by preparing work sheets on tabulator paper. Extraction of factors from 24 variables at the rate of one in four hour's time seems to justify the use of the tabulating equipment on small problems.

Information

Type
Original Paper
Copyright
Copyright © 1945 The Psychometric Society

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