ABSTRACT
The computations involved in factor analysis are so extensive that it has only been since the appearance of the electronic computer that this method has begun to gain the acceptance it deserves. This chapter provides a description of the programs developed by the first author to execute various kinds of computations needed in factor analytic work. FORTRAN listings and PC versions of these programs are available on diskettes from the publisher of this book. These programs were developed by the first author to carry out the operations in factor analysis that he prefers to use. They do not represent a complete package of programs to do all kinds of factor analytic computations. They also are not professionally developed, hence they lack the polish and documentation that characterize professionally developed and marketed computer packages such as SAS, BMDP, SPSS, SYSTAT, and others. Despite these limitations, the programs listed here perform some operations that are not available elsewhere and hence may be useful to the reader. Aside from the main computer packages, other factor analytic programs can be found in Horst (1965) and in Cooley and Lohnes (1962).
