EXERCISES

1. Open the file Decathlon.sav. Decathlon is an athletic competition which consists of 10

different events: 100 meters, long jump, shot put (i.e., push a 16-pound iron ball), high
jump, 400 meters, 110 meters hurdles, discus throw, pole vault (i.e., use vaulting pole to
jump), javelin (i.e., throw metal spear), and 1500 meters. The scores are chosen such that
a higher score corresponds to a better performance. We are interested in the abilities that
play a role in this competition. To this end we will use PCA to see how many underlying
dimensions (factors) there are. Perform a PCA on the first 9 variables (note, do not include
the variable mete1500). Answer the following questions and run the analyses.
a. Use ANALYZE – DATA REDUCTION – FACTOR, and activate EXTRACTION to display a scree
plot. How many components does SPSS extract? Based on which criterion? How many
components would you use based on the scree plot? 2 Components
Component Matrixa
Component
1 2
meter100 .734 -.374
longjump .763 -.301
shotput .733 .517
highjump .751 .038
meter400 .597 -.540
hurdles .747 -.183
discus .635 .556
polevaul .591 -.053
javelin .483 .484

2 Components were extracted by SPSS that is beyond 1 eigenvalue

 b. Run the analysis again but specify that you want to extract 3 components (activate
EXTRACTION to specify the number of components in SPSS).
Component Matrixa
Component
1 2 3
meter100 .734 -.374 .381
longjump .763 -.301 -.054
shotput .733 .517 .160
highjump .751 .038 -.273
meter400 .597 -.540 .332
hurdles .747 -.183 -.196
discus .635 .556 .172
polevaul .591 -.053 -.641
javelin .483 .484 .141
Extraction Method: Principal Component
Analysis.
a. 3 components extracted.

c. Discuss the quality of the three-component solution in terms of the amount of total
variance explained, and, in terms of the amount of variance explained for each of the
variables separately? Are these percentages large enough?

Yes, 70% of the variance were explained by 3 components

d. Activate ROTATION to select the VARIMAX rotation, activate OPTIONS for nicer output in
the loadings matrix (e.g. sort by loading and/or suppress low absolute values).
Interpret/label the components (that is give each component an appropriate short,
descriptive name based on the loadings).
Rotated Component Matrixa
Component
1 2 3
meter100 .863 .236 .155
longjump .613 .182 .516
shotput .194 .860 .232
highjump .284 .373 .649
meter400 .860 .135
hurdles .458 .223 .609
discus .117 .837 .162
polevaul .106 .866
javelin .687 .108
 e. Also perform an OBLIMIN rotation (still extracting 3 components) and examine the
correlations between the components (why did we not ask you to examine the correlations
for the varimax rotation?). Which rotation do you prefer based on the correlations?

Component Correlation Matrix

Component 1 2 3
1 1.000 .314 -.417
2 .314 1.000 -.397
3 -.417 -.397 1.000

Total Variance Explained

Rotation Sums of
Squared
Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Loadingsa
% of Cumulative % of
Component Total Variance % Total Variance Cumulative % Total
1 4.123 45.816 45.816 4.123 45.816 45.816 2.929
2 1.370 15.222 61.038 1.370 15.222 61.038 2.895
3 .858 9.532 70.570 .858 9.532 70.570 2.820
4 .711 7.902 78.472
5 .555 6.167 84.639
6 .471 5.228 89.868
7 .427 4.748 94.615
8 .275 3.061 97.676
9 .209 2.324 100.000

f. Interpret the pattern matrix and label the components based on the factor loadings.

It is better to have 3 components than 2 components, which can reach to 70%

cumulative. Because if we only include 2 components it is only representing 60% data
(Variance)

2. Continue with the same data: Decathlon.sav.

Perform the same exercise, but now examining the two-component solutions (VARIMAX and
OBLIMIN). Which rotation is preferred and why? Is there a nice and clear interpretation for
the two-component solution? Which solution (2 or 3 components) do you prefer after
examining both thoroughly (compare the quality of both on several aspects, like explained
variance, communalities and interpretation).
Component Correlation Matrix >>Oblim
Component 1 2
1 1.000 .390
2 .390 1.000
 Component Transformation Matrix >>
Varimax
Component 1 2
1 .788 .615
2 -.615 .788

Total Variance Explained

Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rot
Component Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total
1 4.123 45.816 45.816 4.123 45.816 45.816 3.0
2 1.370 15.222 61.038 1.370 15.222 61.038 2.4
3 .858 9.532 70.570
4 .711 7.902 78.472
5 .555 6.167 84.639
6 .471 5.228 89.868
7 .427 4.748 94.615
8 .275 3.061 97.676
9 .209 2.324 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

The first two components are chosen by SPSS because they have total explained
variance 61%. These two components are also communalitics.

3. Open the file Importance.sav.

Read the items in the data file carefully (use variable view). Also examine the answer
categories (it is crucial to know if a high score means very important or not at all important).
Note, do not use the variable SEX in the principal components analysis.
a. First, shortly write down your expected factor solution: number of factors, label for each
factor and which variables do you expect to have high loadings on each factor.
Married, children, social
Financial Security, Job, Nothing
Culture, Self-Sufficient, Self-Impact
b. Perform a principal component analysis searching for the best solution (you may have to
try several extractions in terms of number of components and rotations).
i. Which rotation did you use?
ii. How many factors does your solution have? Label them.

Total Variance Explained

Rotation Sums of Squared
Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Loadings
Compo % of Cumulativ
nent Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total Variance e%
1 4.123 45.816 45.816 4.123 45.816 45.816 3.081 34.238 34.238
2 1.370 15.222 61.038 1.370 15.222 61.038 2.412 26.800 61.038
3 .858 9.532 70.570
4 .711 7.902 78.472
5 .555 6.167 84.639
6 .471 5.228 89.868
7 .427 4.748 94.615
8 .275 3.061 97.676
9 .209 2.324 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

First Component Matrix Resulted 2 components that passed the commanalitics that explained variance of 60%.
(Before the rotation)

Total Variance Explained

Com Rotation Sums of Squared
pone Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Loadingsa
nt Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total
1 2.283 25.365 25.365 2.283 25.365 25.365 2.108
2 1.548 17.200 42.565 1.548 17.200 42.565 1.784
3 1.141 12.680 55.245 1.141 12.680 55.245 1.179
4 .928 10.315 65.561
5 .762 8.467 74.027
6 .734 8.160 82.188
7 .630 7.005 89.193
8 .515 5.726 94.919
9 .457 5.081 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
After using rotation VARIMAX and Oblim, there are three components were chosen by
the SPSS. With the total of explained variance 50%. These three components have score
above communalitics.

c. If you have decided on the best solution, run the analysis one more time and save the
factor scores to the data file (use ANALYZE – DATA REDUCTION – FACTOR, and activate
SCORES to save component scores). Give the new variables an appropriate name (type in
variable view).

d. Are there differences between males and females with respect to the component scores?
i. On which factor(s) do men and women differ?
ii. Also discuss the direction of the effect (do men or women score higher on a factor and
what does that mean substantively?)