What is scree plot?

A scree plot is a graphical representation of the eigenvalues of the factors in factor analysis or principal component analysis. It is used to help determine the number of factors or components that should be retained for further analysis.

The scree plot is a simple line graph where the x-axis represents the number of factors or components, and the y-axis represents the magnitude of the eigenvalues. The eigenvalues, which represent the variance explained by each factor or component, are plotted in descending order.

In a scree plot, the point at which the eigenvalues begin to level off and form an "elbow" indicates the point at which further factors or components may not significantly contribute to explaining the variance in the data. This point is used to determine the optimal number of factors or components to retain in the analysis.

Overall, the scree plot is a helpful visual tool for researchers to make informed decisions about the number of factors or components to include in their analysis, ensuring that they capture the most important patterns in the data while avoiding overfitting or underfitting.