Varisim: A New Machine Method for Orthogonal Rotation

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Abstract
The derivative of Kaiser's Varimax criterion, if set to zero, yields a set of equations which are quite similar to those obtained for a least-squares problem of the “Procrustes” type. This similarity suggested an iterative technique for orthogonal rotation, dubbed “Varisim,” which was programmed for the IBM 7094 in FORTRAN. An empirical comparison between Varimax and Varisim, which was based on a number of data sets taken from the literature yielded three major results so far: (i) Varisim is slower than Varimax, roughly by a factor of 3, (ii) Varisim yields factors which in general contribute more evenly to the common test variance than Varimax factors, and which (iii) line up more closely with oblique configurations obtained with Binormamin than Varimax factors.