Glossary / Lexicon

Factor analysis refers to statistical technique used to reduce large amounts of data (e.g. answers to personality questionnaires given to large numbers of people) into groups of items, or factors, that correlate highly with each other but not with other items.

See also:
"Factor analysis" is in the UNSPSC Code "81131501"
-- Factor analysis

Other /More definition:
Factor analysis refers to a statistical technique used to correlate multiple measurements and identify general underlying factors. It is a statistical technique used to reduce large amounts of data (example, answers to personality questionnaires given to large numbers of people) into groups of items, or factors, that correlate highly with each other but not with other items. Likewise, it is a statistical method for examining the interrelationships among a number of variables at the same time. This method uses many separate correlations to determine which variables change together and thus may have some underlying dimension in common. Factor analysis, moreover, is a statistical technique used to define mental factors by analyzing results from intelligence tests.