Latent constructs, such as liberalism or conservatism, are theoretical and cannot be measured directly.
But we can use a set of questions on a scale, called indicators, to represent the construct together by combining them into a latent factor.
Often prior research has determined which indicators represent the latent construct. Prudent researchers will run a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to ensure the same indicators work in their sample.
[Read more…] about Correlated Errors in Confirmatory Factor Analysis