Editing Factor analysis (section)

===Types of factor analysis===
====Exploratory factor analysis====
{{broader|Exploratory factor analysis}}
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to identify complex interrelationships among items and group items that are part of unified concepts.<ref name=Polit>{{cite book |author=Polit DF Beck CT |title=Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice, 9th ed. |year=2012 |publisher=Wolters Klower Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |location=Philadelphia, USA}}</ref>  The researcher makes no ''a priori'' assumptions about relationships among factors.<ref name=Polit/>

====Confirmatory factor analysis====
{{broader|Confirmatory factor analysis}}
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is a more complex approach that tests the hypothesis that the items are associated with specific factors.<ref name=Polit/> CFA uses [[structural equation modeling]] to test a measurement model whereby loading on the factors allows for evaluation of relationships between observed variables and unobserved variables.<ref name=Polit/>  Structural equation modeling approaches can accommodate measurement error and are less restrictive than [[least-squares estimation]].<ref name=Polit/>  Hypothesized models are tested against actual data, and the analysis would demonstrate loadings of observed variables on the latent variables (factors), as well as the correlation between the latent variables.<ref name=Polit/>