ConfirmatoryFactorAnalysis(CFA)inSPSSisastatisticaltechniqueusedtotestwhetherthestructureofasetofobservedvariablesmatchesahypothesizedmeasurementmodel.Unlikeexploratoryfactoranalysis(EFA),whichidentifieslatentfactorswithoutpredefinedassumptions,CFArequiresresearcherstospecifytheexpectedrelationshipsbetweenobservedvariablesandunderlyinglatentconstructsbeforehand.InSPSS,CFAcanbeperformedusingtheAMOSmodule,whichisspecificallydesignedforstructuralequationmodeling(SEM),includingCFA.Theanalysishelpsassessmodelfit,factorloadings,andmeasurementvalidity,providingevidenceforthereliabilityandconstructvalidityoftheproposedmodel.KeystepsinconductingCFAwithSPSS/AMOSinclude:1.Definingthehypothesizedfactorstructure.2.Specifyingtherelationshipsbetweenobservedindicatorsandlatentvariables.3.EvaluatingmodelfitusingindiceslikeChi-square,CFI,RMSEA,andSRMR.4.Refiningthemodelifnecessarybasedonmodificationindicesortheoreticaljustification.CFAiswidelyusedinpsychology,socialsciences,andbusinessresearchtovalidatescales,questionnaires,andtheoreticalframeworks.Properapplicationensuresrobustmeasurementmodelsforfurtheranalysis,suchasstructuralequationmodeling(SEM).
