Best Practices in Confirmatory Factor Analysis: An Overview for Social Work Researchers

Significance

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is a powerful statistical measurement framework that is widely used across research domains. CFA confers important substantive and statistical advantages relative to other measurement approaches, resulting in a sophisticated means of evaluating the scales commonly found in social work. Accordingly, adequate knowledge of CFA has become essential for those seeking to strengthen the base of social work research because of its utility and flexibility. Nonetheless, CFA is a formidable topic and method for many. Although widely taught and used, CFA is frequently misunderstood, avoided, and misused. Moreover, this statistical approach requires specialized knowledge, skills and statistical software. There is a need for an easily accessible, non-threatening introduction to CFA that pairs outstanding methodological rigor with a focus on practicality over technicality. By becoming familiar with current CFA best practices, attendees can gain the expertise necessary to complete quality CFA analyses that compete with the highest-quality research being conducted in other fields.

Content

Attendees to this CFA workshop will acquire knowledge and practice in three areas: (a) foundational knowledge about CFA and its use as a research tool, (b) understanding of the steps for conducting an CFA analysis and interpreting its results, and (c) understanding of the key elements of CFA analyses that must be reported in high-quality journals. The workshop is designed for early-career faculty, researchers, and students who desire to use the measurement tools that are best suited for the complex data and research questions of their topic areas. Discussion will comprise five components: (a) a brief review of core statistical concepts, (b) an overview of the CFA framework and how it differs from other measurement approaches, (c) an interactive discussion of the role of theory in the development and use of CFA, (d) a walk-through of conducting and evaluating a CFA analysis, and (e) supplementary information on what journal reviewers expect to see in an CFA article. The example will make use of procedures in Stata and Mplus. The workshop will conclude with a discussion of next steps to enable participants to hone their CFA expertise. All attendees will received copies of the presentation, a handout detailing step-by-step CFA procedures, a checklist delineating specific CFA best practices, annotated examples of CFA articles’ methods sections, a list of CFA resources, and other relevant materials.

Conclusion

Given the complexity of social work research topics, meaningful and precise CFA statistical approaches are crucial methods for investigators to have in their methodological toolboxes. Thus, there is a great need for an SSWR workshop featuring a gentle yet rigorous introduction to CFA theory and application. For all these reasons, the author believes this workshop fills an important need in SSWR’s Research Design and Measurement (RD&M) cluster and will be of high interest to many SSWR members.