OVERCOMING PROBLEMS IN CONFIRMATORY FACTOR-ANALYSES OF MTMM DATA - THE CORRELATED UNIQUENESS MODEL AND FACTORIAL INVARIANCE

The general model typically used in the confirmatory factor analysis ( CFA) approach to multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data is plagued with me thodological problems and frequently results in improper or unstable s olutions. Here we reanalyze data from a previously published study, de monstrating that this model may lead to inappropriate interpretations even when it does converge to a proper solution, and describe safeguar ds against this occurrence. The results support the correlated uniquen ess model, diagnostic tests of the validity of CFA-MTMM solutions, the inclusion of external validity criteria in the MTMM design as describ ed by Marsh (1988; 1989; Marsh & Bailey, 1991), and the application of factorial invariance to test the stability of CFA-MTMM solutions. Mor e generally, we demonstrate the flexibility of the CFA-MTMM approach f or testing a variety of construct validity issues.