ABSTRACT
One way of looking at factor analysis is as a means of data reduction – it identifies patterns in a large set of data that make the data easier to interpret. As mentioned in the previous chapter, this can leave us open to the criticism that we are making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, seeing meaning where there is nothing but noise. But such criticisms miss one of the important points of research – namely, if our research question is sufficiently interesting at the outset, and our methodology is not hopelessly flawed, whatever data we obtain should be open to analysis. We may not have the evidence to prove or disprove hypotheses, but this certainly does not mean our data are of no interest (often, hypotheses are only advanced when the researcher is highly confident of obtaining a statistically significant result). 1
