Item Analysis Using the Correlations between Items and Latent Variable: Revisiting the Relationships among Factor Loading, Factor Structure, and Factor Pattern

摘要

In the research filed of the item analysis, Richardson (1936) proposed the correlations between items and a test for the estimates of the factor loadings in a test. Guilford (1953) proposed the correction formula to get the correlation between the item and the sum of the remaining n – 1 items. Although the total score of such items is not sufficient for the criterion of the item selection, this rational of the item analysis has been used for the selection the items for scale construction while applying the factor analysis to the same items. In this note, it is suggested that latent variable like the factor score is more suitable than such sum score for the item analysis. Revisiting the definitions or descriptions of the factor loading, the factor structure and the factor pattern by Thurstone (1935), Thomson (1939), and Holzinger & Harman (1941), the estimation method of the reliability in the context of the factor analysis is also discussed.