Application of Factor Analysis in Weighting the Items in Comparison to Predetermined Constant Weights in Psychological and Educational Measurements

According to Kerlinger (1986), factor analysis is a statistical method serving “scientific parsimony principle”. This technique can be used to reduce multiplicity between variables, purify the relationships among variables, and maximize simplification. In fact, this technique determines the dependency among measures and variables and facilitates scientific interpretation. The purpose of the present study is to introduce the application of factor analysis for assigning weight to the variables, exploring the simplest and the most feasible indices with highest weight and significance of evaluation of the sample group, and determining the factor loading for each of the scale items on every one of the explored factors. In the present descriptive study, the data related to the psychological and physiological symptoms of stress among 430 high school teachers of West Azerbaijan Province (105 teachers of physical education and 298 teachers of other fields) were utilized. In the analysis of the data using method of factor analysis, weight was assigned to items and in the next stage, the weight of each item based on the weight of that indicator in the related factor would be used instead of constant weight equal one, in order to come up with final scores of subjects. Results show that there is a significant difference between the two methods in determining the weight of the items by Friedman. Referring to the results, it could be concluded that efficacy of factor analysis in comparing with other ranking methods of indicators was in optimum level.