Difference between Exploratory and Confirmatory

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Introduction

Researches deal with different types of data. Researchers need to have the proper tool to

analyze these data to make sense of it. In statistics, there are two analyses used to understand

data, the exploratory analysis, and the confirmatory analysis. This paper will focus on the

different characteristics between the two analyses and to which data they are most appropriate.

Differences

In a study by Orcan (2018), the exploratory analysis is best used if there are factors that

can be seen to be in between variables. In the other hand, confirmatory analysis is used when

there is already a concrete theory behind the relationship of variables.

First, exploratory analysis produces graphs. Usually, this analysis is used when there is

little known from the data (Martinez et al, 2017). By the name itself, the analysis is used for

exploration of data without the usual grounds held with a hypothesis. Exploratory analysis is

used to develop the hypothesis to further the study.

Conversely, the confirmatory data analysis is used to confirm a hypothesis through

testing. This analysis involves regression, confidence intervals, a test of means, among other

things. The confirmatory analysis could be seen as the end final test done to understand the data

initially studied by the exploratory analysis.

Although these two analyses are different from each other, they should be used together

(Martinez et al., 2017). However, it is not always the case that they are used together. If the

relationship still is not that clear after the exploratory analysis, the confirmatory analysis cannot

follow.

Conclusion
 The two analyses complement each other (Martinez et al., 2017). The exploratory

analysis lays the foundation for the study, while the confirmatory analysis strengthens this

foundation through hypothesis testing.

Bibliography

Fatih ORCAN. (2018). Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Which One to Use

First? Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Education and Psychology, (4), 414.

Martinez, W. L., Martinez, A. R., & Solka, J. L. (2017). Exploratory data analysis with

MATLAB. Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall/CRC.