The PRINQUAL Procedure

You can use the MAC algorithm alone by specifying METHOD=MAC, or you can use it as an initialization algorithm for METHOD=MTV and METHOD=MGV analyses by specifying the iteration option INITITER=. If any variables are negatively correlated, do not use the MAC algorithm with monotonic transformations (MONOTONE, UNTIE, and MSPLINE) because the signs of the correlations among the variables are not used when computing variable approximations. If an approximation is negatively correlated with the original variable, monotone constraints would make the optimally scaled variable a constant, which is not allowed (see the section Avoiding Constant Transformations). When used with other transformations, the MAC algorithm can reverse the scoring of the variables. So, for example, if variable X is designated LOG(X) with METHOD=MAC and TSTANDARD=ORIGINAL, the final transformation (for example, TX) might not be LOG(X). If TX is not LOG(X), it has the same mean as LOG(X) and the same variance as LOG(X), and it is perfectly negatively correlated with LOG(X). PROC PRINQUAL displays a note for every variable that is reversed in this manner.

You can use the METHOD=MAC algorithm to reverse the scorings of some rating variables before a factor analysis. The correlations among bipolar ratings such as ’like - dislike’, ’hot - cold’, and ’fragile - monumental’ are typically both positive and negative. If some items are reversed to say ’dislike - like’, ’cold - hot’, and ’monumental - fragile’, some of the negative signs can be eliminated, and the factor pattern matrix would be cleaner. You can use PROC PRINQUAL with METHOD=MAC and LINEAR transformations to reverse some items, maximizing the average of the intercorrelations.