Is there a problem if variables have different levels in factor analysis?

Question

I'm planning to do a factor analysis on data with ordinal variables 1-5, 1-6 and 1-3. I'm new to factor analysis and I wonder if there is any problem that the factors have different levels? Thanks in advance! I'm planning to use the r package psych

`the factors have different levels` what does it mean? – ttnphns Aug 22 '19 at 07:55 — ttnphns, Aug 22 '19 at 07:55
variables are set as factors with levels 1-3/1-5/1-6 – user11916948 Aug 22 '19 at 08:42 — user11916948, Aug 22 '19 at 08:42

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 22 '19 at 12:03

There will be the usual problems of factor analyzing ordinal variables, but there are no additional problems because of different scales - these get dealt with in the analysis.

But treating the variables as if they were continuous is not going to be correct.

See this question and the answers thereto.

Is there a problem if variables have different levels in factor analysis?

1 Answers1