Factor analysis is often used to model scales created to measure latent constructs, and internal structure validity evidence is commonly assessed with indices like SRMR, RMSEA, and CFI. These indices are essentially effect size measures and definitive benchmarks regarding which values connote reasonable fit have been elusive. Simulations from the…

A central problem in the application of exploratory factor analysis is deciding how many factors to retain ("m"). Although this is inherently a model selection problem, a model selection perspective is rarely adopted for this task. We suggest that Cudeck and Henly's (1991) framework can be applied to guide the selection process.…

Higher Education Support Personnel support the faculty in fulfilling the mission of America's colleges and universities. Rarely studied, these personnel include position classifications such as support/service professionals, technical/paraprofessionals, clerical and secretarial, service/maintenance, and skilled crafts. The support/service…

The authors center their presentation of material around a conceptual understanding of psychometric issues, such as validity and reliability, and on purpose rather than procedure, the "why" rather than the "how to." Their goal is to introduce psychometric principles at a level that is deeper and more focused than found in introductory…

The extent to which a scale score generalizes to a latent variable common to all of the scale's indicators is indexed by the scale's general factor saturation. Seven techniques for estimating this parameter--omega[hierarchical] (omega[subscript h])--are compared in a series of simulated data sets. Primary comparisons were based on 160 artificial…