Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is often conducted with ordinal data (e.g., items with 5-point responses) in the social and behavioral sciences. These ordinal variables are often treated as if they were continuous in practice. An alternative strategy is to assume that a normally distributed continuous variable underlies each ordinal variable.…

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is generally regarded as a technique for large sample sizes ("N"), with N = 50 as a reasonable absolute minimum. This study offers a comprehensive overview of the conditions in which EFA can yield good quality results for "N" below 50. Simulations were carried out to estimate the minimum required "N" for different…

This article overviews and evaluates Raymond B. Cattell's integration of psychology and ethics. It describes his views on the psychological bases of individual morality and values: superego strength, motivation, and religious sentiment. Cattell's proposed ethical system, Beyondism, based on scientific method rather than rationality alone, is also…

This overview of the field of personality theory evaluates the important features of Raymond Cattell's work. While there are many areas of agreement between Cattell and other personality theorists, his rejection of traditional clinical methods for measurement and experimentation has created controversy as well as an extraordinarily rich…

In this overview of his research in personality theory, Cattell describes the play of people, situations, and, ideas enacted over 30 years in his University of Illinois laboratory. Establishing meaningful empirical measurement methods was the foundation for further research into many aspects of personality development. (BS)