ABSTRACT
In Chapter 11 we described some of the basics of correlational research; in this chapter we examine some extensions of those basic methods. The fi rst topic we address is factor analysis, a set of techniques for determining the extent to which a set of variables represents a single underlying hypothetical construct. Exploratory factor analysis starts with a set of
variables and searches for relationships among them; confi rmatory factor analysis starts with a hypothesis about the pattern of relationships among a set of variables and tests that hypothesis. We then provide an overview of methods for testing mediational hypotheses. Mediational hypotheses (or models) propose that one or more variables come between an independent variable and a dependent variable in a causal sequence. For example, Event Interpretation of event Response to event represents a mediational model in which the way in which a person interprets an event (as, say, threatening versus nonthreatening) affects how the person responds to the event.
