Interpreting Smallest Space Analysis
- 1 August 1974
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Sociological Methods & Research
- Vol. 3 (1) , 3-29
- https://doi.org/10.1177/004912417400300101
Abstract
Two kinds of SSA (smallest space analysis) are distinguished: R-SSA, which uses as input a matrix of R-distance coefficients (distances among pairs of variables); and Q-SSA, which uses as input a matrix of Q-distance coefficients (distances among pairs of objects). While both types are common in the literature, only researchers using Q-SSA have attempted to interpret the coordinates of the space. It is shown that the coordinates can be interpreted in R-SSA, and that this interpretation yields valuable information that is otherwise lost. Also, SSA and factor analysis are compared from a facet analysis perspective. Finally, an R-SSA is compared with an R-factor analysis of the same data.Keywords
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