Relation between Number of Subjects and Homogeneity of the Scale in Factor Analytic Studies

Abstract

This paper describes a factor analysis of the responses of 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, or 160 subjects. The result shows that homogeneous scales need fewer subjects than heterogeneous scales for stable results in terms of the number of extracted factors and percentage of variance explained.