The basic considerations that should be examined in performing an exploratory descriptive factor analysis of a communication concept are described in this paper. Factor analysis is a statistical technique designed to identify the fundamental, common elements within a pool of variables. For example, imagine asking students twenty questions all designed to measure communication anxiety. Factor analysis tells which of the twenty statements seem to be measuring the same thing. Following an explanation of the concept of factor analysis, the bulk of this paper describes the application of factor analysis in speech and communication research. The basic considerations involved in this statistical technique are defining an area of concern or a concept to investigate, constructing a number of items to measure the concept, collecting responses to the items, calculating a correlation matrix of the responses, and factor analyzing the correlation matrix. Examples of a factor analysis are provided. (RB)