Dear colleagues
I just had PhD student in my office to consult me about problems she is having
using factor analysis. She is doing a thesis on the behaviour of sufferers
of genetic diseases.
While this is not exactly my field, she has filled me in with literature on
the subject. Apparently, (since I have to admit that, being a recent graduand,
factor analysis is not my forte) factor analysis is not recommended for samples
of less than 50, according to the articles I have seen. Her sample only involves
40 patients, which is basically the maximum it can reach in a small country
like Malta.
Would any of you have different opinions about this? If this statement is to
be adhered to, are there any ways to go around it - maybe non-parametric methods?
Moreover, in another group of patients with a different type of disease she
has another 80 individuals. She was recommended to join the two and just put
in a nominal variable to identify which group they belong to. However, the
factor analyses conducted on the two groups separately are resulting in very
different profiles. I don't think you can just join them into one analysis.
What are your opinions about this?
The ultimate target is to generate multiple regression models from the data
collected about these individuals.
Thanks once more
Yours truly
Dr Neville Calleja
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Dr Neville Calleja
328A St Paul Rd
Xemxija
St Paul's Bay SPB10
MALTA
Tel: +356-21-582905
Fax: +356-23-331027
email: [log in to unmask]
Mob: +356-99800088
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