Abstract
This Chapter examines the methodological foundations of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and suggests that it is properly construed as a method for generating explanatory theories. In the first half of the chapter, it is argued that EFA should be understood as an abductive method of theory generation that exploits an important precept of scientific inference known as the principle of the common cause. This characterization of the inferential nature of EFA coheres well with its interpretation as a latent variable method. The second half of the chapter outlines a broad theory of scientific method in which abductive reasoning figures prominently. It then discusses a number of methodological features of EFA in the light of that method. It is concluded that EFA, as a useful method of theory generation that can be profitably employed in tandem with confirmatory factor analysis and other methods of theory evaluation.
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Haig, B.D. (2018). Exploratory Factor Analysis, Theory Generation, and Scientific Method. In: Method Matters in Psychology. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, vol 45. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01051-5_4
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