TY  - GEN
T1  - Using factor analysis in soil science : a tool to summarize information
A1  - A.M. Mokhtaruddin
LA  - English
PB  - The Malaysian Society of Soil Science
YR  - 2015
UL  - http://discoverylib.upm.edu.my/discovery/Record/oai:http:--agris.upm.edu.my:0-10052
AB  - Some soil qualities are quantified or evaluated by using many indices or by measuring many soil properties because these soil qualities are influence by many interacting soil factors.  The information produced from such a variety of measurements can be summarized using the multivariate statistical tool called factor analysis.  Factor analysis simplifies complex sets of data by representing them with fewer variables called common factors.  This paper is to explain the fundamentals of factor analysis, its use and its interpretation.  To illustrate factor analysis, secondary data was used to derive a single measure of soil tilth from the measurement of several soil properties.  Data of five variables: humus, porosity (PORE), bulk density (BD), sand and clay content of twenty soil samples were re-analysed with the statistical program SPSS.  Factor analysis summarized the information contained in those five variables into two common factors: the structure and consistency factors.  The variables associated to the structure factor were humus, PORE and BD, and to the consistency factor were sand and clay.  Thus, the measure of soil tilth is: Tilth index=structure index-\\consistency index\\ because the better the soil structure the better the soil tilth, but extreme values of consistency are detrimetal to soil tilth.
KW  - SOIL SCIENCES
KW  - SOIL ANALYSIS
KW  - SOIL ORGANIC MATTER
KW  - SOIL CHEMICOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES
KW  - SIMULATION
KW  - SOIL CHEMISTRY
KW  - STATISTICAL METHODS
KW  - DATA ANALYSIS
KW  - MALAYSIA
KW  - SCIENCES DU SOL
KW  - ANALYSE DE SOL
KW  - MATIERE ORGANIQUE DU SOL
KW  - PROPRIETE PHYSICOCHIMIQUE DU SOL
KW  - CHIMIE DU SOL
KW  - METHODE STATISTIQUE
KW  - ANALYSE DE DONNEES
KW  - MALAISIE
KW  - CIENCIA DEL SUELO
KW  - ANALISIS DEL SUELO
KW  - MATERIA ORGANICA DEL SUELO
KW  - PROPIEDADES FISICO-QUIMICAS SUELO
KW  - SIMULACION
KW  - QUIMICA DEL SUELO
KW  - METODOS ESTADISTICOS
KW  - ANALISIS DE DATOS
KW  - MALASIA
ER  -