Exploratory Factorial Analysis

PSY30003 – Assignment 2 (worth 50% of the final grade. Due by 11.55pm, November 22)

You are expected to perform an exploratory factor analysis on the items comprising the new measure of equanimity, describe the steps taken to select the final items, and evaluate the psychometric properties (i.e., reliability, validity) of your final scale.

The following sections should be included in the report:

1) Title Page (in APA style)

2) Hypotheses

Instead of including the entire Introduction, just include the hypotheses from Assignment 1. To make things as easy as possible for the markers, please present them in dot-point format (the reason for including the hypotheses is to make sure that the markers have context for your Method, Results, and Discussion).

The hypotheses should be unchanged from Assignment 1 unless the feedback suggested that your hypotheses missed the mark.

o If you change your hypotheses you will not be required to update any part of the Introduction. If there is additional content (e.g., papers to cite) that needs to be added you can refer to it in your Discussion, as you would if you were referring to something that had originally been included in the Introduction.

▪ If the hypotheses are not updated it may result in doing analyses which do not adequately assess the validity of the new equanimity scale. This will lead to losing marks in your Results section and potentially also in your Discussion.

3) Method

Describe the sample and measures used to provide evidence of validity for the new scale. Do not include measures that are not relevant to your hypotheses and analyses.

o NOTE:Aseparatedocumentwillbemadeavailablewhenthedataforthe assignment is released. This will include basic demographic information for the Participants section.

You can include the following statement under the Procedure sub-section of the Method: “An online survey was completed by undergraduate psychology students at an Australian university at a time and place of their choosing. The study was approved and conducted in accordance with Swinburne University’s ethical guidelines.”

4) Results

This section should describe:

• The results from your factor analyses, including:

o A justification for the extraction and rotation method used
o Relevant factor analysis statistics (i.e., KMO, Bartlett’s test, factor loadings from the final analysis)

o If items were removed, also describe the process through which the decision was made to exclude these items

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A reliability analysis of the final measure, including Cronbach’s alpha and related item statistics (e.g., alpha if item deleted) for the composite scale and if needed, each of the subscales.

Descriptive statistics for all measures used.

Correlations that address your validation hypotheses.

o NOTE: The Assignment 2 Table Guide document gives an idea of how these results can be presented.

5) Discussion

This section aligns with what is expected in a Discussion from any other lab report. It should present an evaluation of your final measure, including:

Statements about the factor structure, notable concerns with items that were deleted if this indicates problems with the initial development of items, and implications for the definition and measurement of the construct being investigated.

A discussion of the evidence for the validity of the new measure.

A discussion of the reliability of the new measure, and if relevant the validating measures.

Limitations and implications, including any potential future revisions to the new equanimity

scale and if needed, recommendations for how it should be validated in the future.

6) References

• In-text referencing, presentation of the results, and the reference list should be in APA 7th ed. format.

Marking

The research report is worth 50% of your final grade in this unit, and will be marked out of 100. Weightings of individual sections are as follows:

Title page: Mandatory (0 marks) Hypotheses: (0 marks)
Method: 10 marks
Results: 45 marks

Discussion: 40 marks
APA formatting, spelling/grammar: 5 marks

Submission requirements

The assignment should be a 2000 (± 10%) words. This does NOT include the title page, hypotheses, Tables, or References. There is no minimum or maximum word length for any specific section.

Assignments should be double-spaced using a standard 12-point font. Use APA formatting (6th or 7th ed.) throughout. As your formatting guide, refer to the APA Publication Manual

You must check that your assignment submission has correctly uploaded, in an acceptable file format, well in advance of the deadline. Allow plenty of time to correct any technical difficulties, as they will not be considered the basis for any extension.