Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Scales

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) is a statistical method for testing whether a hypothesized factorial structure fits empirical data. Developed by Karl G. Jöreskog in 1969, CFA is the standard approach for validating psychometric scales by evaluating whether items load onto theoretically specified latent factors as expected. Unlike exploratory factor analysis, CFA requires a priori specification of the factor structure and provides goodness-of-fit indices to assess model adequacy.