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The Manifest Association Structure of the Single-Factor Model: Insights from Partial Correlations

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Abstract

The association structure between manifest variables arising from the single-factor model is investigated using partial correlations. The additional insights to the practitioner provided by partial correlations for detecting a single-factor model are discussed. The parameter space for the partial correlations is presented, as are the patterns of signs in a matrix containing the partial correlations that are not compatible with a single-factor model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento Métodos Quantitativos, ISCTE Business School, Lisboa, Portugal

    Maria de Fátima Salgueiro

  2. Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Peter W. F. Smith

  3. Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    John W. McDonald

Authors
  1. Maria de Fátima Salgueiro
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  2. Peter W. F. Smith
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  3. John W. McDonald
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria de Fátima Salgueiro.

Additional information

The research of the first author was supported by the Fundaçāo para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and by the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute. The authors thank the Editor, the Associate Editor and three Reviewers for their constructive comments which helped to improve the paper.

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Salgueiro, M.d.F., Smith, P.W.F. & McDonald, J.W. The Manifest Association Structure of the Single-Factor Model: Insights from Partial Correlations. Psychometrika 73, 665–670 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-007-9037-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-007-9037-9

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