CATTELL'S parallel proportional profiles

Journal of Chemometrics, vol. 35

Abstract

Abstract In a primarily informal and conceptual way we trace the history of Cattell's parallel proportional profiles principle for factor rotation, also known as confactor rotation. Its original idea in connection with standard and confirmatory factor analysis of sets of covariance matrices from random samples is discussed as is its use in the non‐stochastic framework of three‐mode analysis. It will be shown that unfortunately the principle as an alternative for simple structure rotation has not led to a wide‐spread use in the social and behavioral sciences, but that it has celebrated triumphs in sciences like chemistry, signal processing, and other physical sciences mostly under the flag of the PARAFAC/CANDECOMP model, tensor decomposition, or canonical polyadic decomposition.

Authors 2

1. Pieter M. Kroonenberg corresponding Aachen Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Leiden University Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Leiden University, The Three‐Mode Company Leiden The Netherlands

   Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, The Three-Mode Company, Leiden, The Netherlands

2. Richard A. Harshman

   Western University

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Western Ontario London Ontario Canada

   University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada