Different random or purposive allocations of items to parcels within a single sample are thought not to alter structural parameter estimates as long as items are unidimensional and congeneric. If, additionally, numbers of items per parcel and parcels per factor are held fixed across allocations, different allocations of items to parcels within a…

Examined the relative performance of two commonly used methods of parameter estimation in factor analysis, maximum likelihood (ML) and ordinary least squares (OLS) through simulation. In situations with a moderate amount of error, ML often failed to recover the weak factor while OLS succeeded. Also presented an example using empirical data. (SLD)