METHOD Subcommand (FACTOR command)

METHOD specifies whether the factor analysis is performed on a correlation matrix or a covariance matrix.

• Only one METHOD subcommand is allowed. If more than one is specified, the last is in effect.

CORRELATION. Perform a correlation matrix analysis. This is the default.

COVARIANCE. Perform a covariance matrix analysis. Valid only with principal components, principal axis factoring, or image factoring methods of extraction. The program issues an error if this keyword is specified when the input is a factor-loading matrix or a correlation matrix that does not contain standard deviations (STDDEV or SD).