factor analysis

1. 1.

   any of several methods for reducing correlational data to a smaller number of dimensions or factors; beginning with a correlation matrix a small number of components or factors are extracted that are regarded as the basic variables that account for the interrelations observed in the data

   Broadercorrelational analysis

   statistics

Questions about factor analysis

What does factor analysis mean?

factor analysis means "any of several methods for reducing correlational data to a smaller number of dimensions or factors; beginning with a correlation matrix a small number of components or factors are extracted that are regarded as the basic variables that account for the interrelations observed in the data".

Is factor analysis a common word?

factor analysis is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.