# Factor Analysis on items measured on two different 5 likert scale items that is one scale is measuring frequency and other the agreement

Can I run factor analysis on items that are measured on two different 5 likert scale, that is one scale is measuring frequency ( i.e never , rarely, occasionally, frequently and always) and other agreement ( strongly disagree, disagree, not sure, agree and strongly agree)

• Have you tried to use the search function? This seems like a question that is likely to have popped up on this site in the past.
– Andy
Apr 17, 2016 at 10:54
• Yes I did, but I did not find anything relevantin this context Apr 17, 2016 at 11:04
• Factor analysis isn't aware of the labels and cannot be. It assumes the levels are just 1 2 3 4 5, for a 5-level likert scale. Apr 17, 2016 at 11:10
• So , can I assume the scales mentioned above are measuring the same level and factor analysis can be done on these items with different scales? Apr 17, 2016 at 11:13

• you find a latent variable that includes both frequencies and agreements Well, this would sound a bit vague. One thing is to argue that incompatible stimulus measurement units may distort or impede proper correlation between the items. Another thing is to argue that a latent trait can or should itself have "units". Apr 17, 2016 at 12:51