RESEARCH AND SURVEY STATISTICS – STA3022F

TUTORIAL 5
FACTOR ANALYSIS and ITEM RELIABLITY ANALYSIS

QUESTION 1: STANDARDISATION OF DATA

(a) Consider the following data matrix with 4 observations on 3 variables.

6 1 3
2 8 3
𝑿=[ ]
5 9 2
3 2 0
i. Calculate the mean for each of the three variables.
ii. Given that the standard deviations of the three variables are 𝒔′ = [1.8 4.1 1.4],
𝑥11 −𝑥̅1 𝑥12 −𝑥̅2 𝑥13 −𝑥̅3
𝑠1 𝑠2 𝑠3
𝑥21 −𝑥̅1 𝑥22 −𝑥̅2 𝑥23 −𝑥̅3
𝑠1 𝑠2 𝑠3
give the matrix of standardised values 𝒁 = 𝑥31 −𝑥̅1 𝑥32 −𝑥̅2 𝑥33 −𝑥̅3 .
𝑠1 𝑠2 𝑠3
𝑥41 −𝑥̅1 𝑥42 −𝑥̅2 𝑥43 −𝑥̅3
[ 𝑠1 𝑠2 𝑠3 ]
iii. Calculate the mean of each of the three variables in 𝒁.
iv. Calculate the standard deviation of each of the three variables in 𝒁.
1
Hint: 𝑠 = √𝑛−1 {(∑𝑛 2 2
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 )−𝑛𝑥̅ }

v. Calculate the covariances between 𝑋1 &𝑋2, 𝑋1 &𝑋3 and 𝑋2 &𝑋3.

1
Hint: 𝑠𝑖𝑗 = 𝑛−1 ∑𝑛
ℎ=1(𝑥ℎ𝑖 −𝑥̅ 𝑖 )(𝑥ℎ𝑗 −𝑥̅ 𝑗 )
vi. Calculate the covariances between 𝑍1 &𝑍2, 𝑍1 &𝑍3 and 𝑍2 &𝑍3.
1
Hint: 𝑠𝑖𝑗 = 𝑛−1 ∑𝑛
ℎ=1(𝑥ℎ𝑖 −𝑥̅ 𝑖 )(𝑥ℎ𝑗 −𝑥̅ 𝑗 )
vii. Calculate the correlations between 𝑋1 &𝑋2, 𝑋1 &𝑋3 and 𝑋2 &𝑋3.
𝑠
Hint: 𝑟𝑖𝑗 = 𝑠 𝑖𝑗𝑠
𝑖 𝑗

1
(a) (i) 𝑥̅1 = 4 (6 + 2 + 5 + 3) = 4
1
𝑥̅ 2 = 4 (1 + 8 + 9 + 2) = 5
1
𝑥̅ 3 = 4 (3 + 3 + 2 + 0) = 2
6−4 1−5 3−2
1.8 4.1 1.4
2−4 8−5 3−2 1.11 −0.98 0.71
1.8 4.1 1.4 −1.11 0.73 0.71
(ii) 𝒁 = 5−4 9−5 2−2 =[ ]
0.56 0.98 0.00
1.8 4.1 1.4
3−4 2−5 −2
−0.56 −0.73 −1.42
[ 1.8 4.1 1.4 ]
1
(iii) 𝑧̅1 = (1.11 − 1.11 + 0.56 = 0.56) = 0
4
1
𝑧̅2 = 4 (−0.98 + 0.73 + 0.98 − 0.73) = 0
1
𝑧̅3 = 4 (0.71 + 0.71 + 0 − 1.42) = 0
 2
(iv) 𝑠1𝑍 = 13{(1.112 + 1.112 + 0.562 + 0.562 ) − 4 × 0} = 3.1
3
= 1.0 Notice that the 3.1
in the numerator is due to rounding. If you square the 𝑧𝑖𝑗 s with many decimals, it
will come out at exactly 3.0.
2
𝑠2𝑍 = 13{(0.982 + 0.732 + 0.982 + 0.732 ) − 4 × 0} = 3.0
3
= 1.0
2 1 2 2 2 3.0
𝑠3𝑍 = 3{(0.71 + 0.71 + 0 + 1.42 ) − 4 × 0} = 3 = 1.0
𝑠1𝑍 = √1 = 1 = 𝑠2𝑍 = 𝑠3𝑍
1
(v) 𝑠12 = 3 [(6 − 4)(1 − 5) + (2 − 4)(8 − 5) + (5 − 4)(9 − 5) + (3 − 4)(2 − 5)] =
1 −7
[(2)(−4) + (−2)(3) + (1)(4) + (−1)(−3)] = = −2.33
3 3
1
𝑠13 = 3 [(6 − 4)(3 − 2) + (2 − 4)(3 − 2) + (5 − 4)(2 − 2) + (3 − 4)(0 − 2)] =
1 2
[(2)(1) + (−2)(1) + (1)(0) + (−1)(−2)] = = 0.67
3 3
1
𝑠23 = 3 [(1 − 5)(3 − 2) + (8 − 5)(3 − 2) + (9 − 5)(2 − 2) + (2 − 5)(0 − 2)] =
1 5
[(−4)(1) + (3)(1) + (4)(0) + (−3)(−2)] = = 1.67
3 3
1
(vi) 𝑠12𝑍 = 3 [(1.11 − 0)(−0.98 − 0) + (−1.11 − 0)(0.73 − 0) + (0.56 − 0)(0.98 −
−0.9405
0) + (−0.56 − 0)(−0.73 − 0)] = = −0.31
3
1
𝑠13𝑍 = 3 [(1.11)(0.71) + (−1.11)(0.71) + (0.56)(0) + (−0.56)(−1.42)] =
0.7952
= 0.27
3
1
𝑠23𝑍 = 3 [(−0.98)(0.71) + (0.73)(0.71) + (0.98)(0) + (−0.73)(−1.42)] =
0.8591
= 0.29
3
−2.33
(vii) 𝑟12 = (1.8)(4.1) = −0.32
0.67
𝑟13 = (1.8)(1.4) = 0.27
1.67
𝑟23 = = 0.29
(4.1)(1.4)

QUESTION 2: WOMAN IN THE WORKPLACE

A study recently conducted by a university’s gender equality unit sought to establish the
attitudes of employees (both men and women) towards women in senior managerial
positions in the workplace. The researcher designed a questionnaire consisting of 10
attitudinal statements (rated on a 1-5 scale) to identify employees’ attitudes towards women
in senior managerial positions in their workplace. The questionnaire was designed to focus on
employees’ perception of women in senior managerial positions in terms of:
o their interpersonal skills (Questions A4, A5, A8, A10)
o their decision making skills (Questions A1, A2, A3)
o their conflict resolution skills (Questions A6, A7, A9)
A pilot study on 56 representative respondents was conducted to test the reliability of the
research instrument. The results of this pilot study would be used to modify the
questionnaire, if necessary, before a large-scale sample survey of 1680 respondents is
undertaken.

Use the information below to state whether

1. the draft questionnaire measures the three underlying constructs, and
 2. all the questions with respect to each construct should be retained as reliable
measures of the underlying construct

Construct 1: Decision making skills

Chronbach 𝛼 = 0.628645
A1 A2 A3
𝛼-if-deleted 0.563541 0.556058 0.477229
Item-total correlation 0.414054 0.440036 0.490725

Construct 2: Interpersonal skills

Chronbach 𝛼 = 0.650672
A4 A5 A8 A10
𝛼-if-deleted 0.580138 0.535301 0.573081 0.648800
Item-total correlation 0.434153 0.537012 0.444139 0.355880

Construct 3: Conflict resolution skills

Chronbach 𝛼 = 0.210124
A6 A7 A9
𝛼-if-deleted 0.000000 0.400545 0.032864
Item-total correlation 0.226363 -0.043137 0.0153728

Construct 1: Decision making skills

The Cronbach alpha of 0.63 suggest that the overall internal consistency of the 3 questions
designed to measure decision making skills is moderate but not high. Although the overall
reliability fails the traditional cut-off of 0.7, the difference is fairly small, and the questions
could probably be considered to adequately represent the underlying construct. There are no
improvements in reliability that would result from deleting any of the questions measuring
the decision making skills construct.

Construct 2: Interpersonal skills

The interpretation is very similar to the previous construct. The Cronbach alpha of 0.65
suggest that the overall internal consistency of the 4 questions designed to measure
interpersonal skills is moderate but not high. Although the overall reliability fails the
traditional cut-off of 0.7, the difference is fairly small, and the questions could probably be
considered to adequately represent the underlying construct. There are no improvements in
reliability that would result from deleting any of the questions measuring the interpersonal
skills construct.

Construct 3: Conflict resolution skills

The Cronbach alpha of 0.21 suggest extremely low internal consistency between the 3
questions designed to measure conflict resolution skills. Although there is a substantial
improvement in reliability that would result from deleting question A7 from the interpersonal
skills construct, the overall reliability of the remaining two questions (A6 and A9) would still
only be 0.40. Thus the questions designed by the researcher to measure conflict resolution
skills appear not to be measuring the same underlying construct.
The research should consider changing the questions designed to measure conflict resolution
skills before proceeding with the main study, and possibly rerun the pilot study to ensure that
the new questions are more reliable. If the same questions are used, any results based on the
conflict resolution skills construct should be interpreted with caution.