Factor Analysis Methods and Validity Evidence: A Systematic Review of Instrument Development across the Continuum of Medical Education.

FACTOR ANALYSIS METHODS AND VALIDITY EVIDENCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE CONTINUUM OF MEDICAL EDUCATION By Angela Payne Wetzel, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011 Director: James H. McMillan, Ph.D. Professor, Foundations of Education School of Education Previous systematic reviews indicate a lack of reporting of reliability and validity evidence in subsets of the medical education literature. Psychology and general education reviews of factor analysis also indicate gaps between current and best practices; yet, a comprehensive review of exploratory factor analysis in instrument development across the continuum of medical education had not been previously identified. Therefore, the purpose for this study was critical review of instrument development articles employing exploratory factor or principal component analysis published in medical education (2006-2010) to describe and assess the reporting of