Indicators of the quality of confirmatory factor analysis applied in academic theses and dissertations

Abstract

   The current research aims to identify the quality indicators of confirmatory factor analysis applied in the theses and dissertations of graduate students at Al-Mustansiriya University for the Colleges of Education and Arts, and the Psychology departments for the years (2018-2023). The researcher followed a descriptive research method - survey studies in the current research, and used the evaluative review method for the theses and dissertations that applied confirmatory factor analysis within their procedures. The research sample size was (18) theses and dissertations, and after the evaluative review of the applied quality indicators, the results showed that the most commonly used indicators in the theses and dissertations are the probability ratio of chi-square with a percentage of (100%), the ratio of chi-square to degrees of freedom with a percentage of (100%), and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) with a percentage of (100%). This is followed by the adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) with a percentage of (83%), the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) with a percentage of (83%), the normed fit index (NFI) with a percentage of (78%), and the comparative fit index (CFI) with a percentage of (78%). The results also showed that the use of the remaining indicators is almost negligible.