Factor Analysis MCQ Quiz:
Theoretical Questions
1. What is the primary goal of factor analysis?
A. To determine the number of observations in a dataset
B. To reduce the number of variables while preserving as much information as possible
C. To test the reliability of a dataset
D. To predict the value of a dependent variable
2. In factor analysis, the communality of a variable refers to:
A. The variance explained by the common factors for that variable
B. The variance explained by a unique factor for that variable
C. The correlation between two observed variables
D. The shared variance between all the variables in the analysis
3. Which of the following best defines factor loadings?
A. The degree to which a factor is correlated with the observed variables
B. The amount of variance a variable shares with the total factors
C. The proportion of variance explained by a single factor for a given variable
D. The correlation between two or more factors
4. In Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the first principal component accounts for:
A. The least amount of variance
B. The maximum variance
C. Only the variance that is common between all variables
D. The variance that is unique to each variable
5. Which method is primarily used for rotation in factor analysis?
A. Eigenvalue decomposition
B. Varimax
C. KMO test
D. Scree plot
6. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure is used to assess:
A. The correlation between factors in an exploratory factor analysis
B. The adequacy of the sample size for factor analysis
C. The distribution of variables across different factors
D. The strength of the correlation between individual variables
7. In exploratory factor analysis, factors are often rotated to:
A. Minimize the number of factors
B. Maximize the variance explained by all factors
C. Achieve a simpler, more interpretable structure
D. Test the reliability of each factor
8. Which of the following rotation methods in factor analysis is orthogonal (i.e., assumes
factors are uncorrelated)?
A. Oblique rotation
B. Promax rotation
C. Varimax rotation
D. Direct oblimin rotation
9. Eigenvalues in factor analysis represent:
A. The proportion of variance explained by each factor
B. The factor loadings for each variable
C. The total variance of the dataset
D. The residual error in the model
10. Factor scores are:
A. Calculated based on the eigenvalues and factor loadings
B. Directly correlated to the observed variables
C. Used for predicting future values of the variables
D. The variance of the original variables not explained by factors
Application-Based Questions
11. In an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with 6 observed variables, you obtain 3 factors.
The factor loadings for the first variable are:
● Factor 1: 0.8,
● Factor 2: 0.3,
● Factor 3: 0.1.
Which factor does the first variable load most strongly on?
A. Factor 1
B. Factor 2
C. Factor 3
D. None of the above
12. You conduct an EFA and find that the KMO measure is 0.75. What does this indicate?
A. The sample size is adequate for factor analysis.
B. The factor model is unreliable.
C. The correlation matrix is identity, so factor analysis is not appropriate.
D. The data requires a higher number of factors to fit the model.
13. A researcher wants to reduce a set of 15 variables into a smaller number of factors for
better interpretability. After conducting factor analysis, the researcher rotates the factors
using Varimax rotation. What is the likely result of this rotation?
A. The factors will remain correlated with each other.
B. The factors will be uncorrelated and easier to interpret.
C. The variables will be grouped based on their highest factor loading.
D. The factors will be more complicated and difficult to explain.
14. After performing factor analysis on a dataset, the researcher uses a scree plot and
notices a clear inflection point at factor 3. This suggests that:
A. Three factors explain the most variance in the data.
B. The factors should be rotated to achieve clearer interpretations.
C. The number of factors should be reduced to two.
D. Factor analysis is unsuitable for this dataset.
15. A researcher uses Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) for an exploratory factor analysis.
This method is best used when:
A. The data is normally distributed and the factors are uncorrelated.
B. The goal is to explore latent variables that explain the correlations between observed
variables.
C. The goal is to maximize the variance explained by the first principal component.
D. There are no missing data in the dataset.
16. In a factor analysis with oblique rotation, factors are allowed to be:
A. Independent and uncorrelated
B. Dependent and correlated
C. Independent but correlated
D. Unexplained by the factor model
17. In a factor analysis of a dataset of customer satisfaction, you find that Factor 1 relates
strongly to “product quality,” while Factor 2 relates to “customer service.” What does this
suggest about the data?
A. The two factors are measuring similar concepts.
B. The factors represent two distinct dimensions of customer satisfaction.
C. The analysis should be repeated with more variables.
D. The two factors should be combined into one.
18. In the context of exploratory factor analysis, what is the purpose of rotating the
factors?
A. To increase the number of factors in the model
B. To clarify the relationship between variables and factors
C. To test the reliability of the data
D. To adjust the eigenvalues for better model fit
19. When conducting factor analysis, you obtain factor loadings of 0.9 for Variable X and
0.2 for Variable Y on Factor 1. What is the likely interpretation of this?
A. Variable X explains most of the variance in Factor 1, while Variable Y explains very little.
B. Both variables are equally important for Factor 1.
C. Variable X and Variable Y are measuring the same thing.
D. The data requires more variables to explain Factor 1.
20. A researcher wishes to assess how well their model fits the data after performing factor
analysis. Which of the following would be the most appropriate method for evaluating model
fit?
A. R-squared
B. Factor loading significance tests
C. Goodness-of-fit indices (e.g., CFI, RMSEA)
D. KMO measure
