[R] How-To construct a cov list to use a covariance matrix in factanal?

[Alistair Campbell]

Hi,

I have a set of covariance matrices but not the original data. I want to carry out some exploratory factor analysis. So, I am trying to construct a covariance matrix list as the input for factanal. I can construct a list which includes the cov, the centers, and the n.obs. But it doesn't work. I get an error that says "Error in sqrt(diag(cv)) : Non-numeric argument to mathematical function". So, obviously I am doing something wrong.

Two questions occur. Can someone either tell me how to construct a proper covmat list object or point me to a description of how to do it? The other question is whether it is possible to simply use the covariance matrix as the argument for covmat in factanal? The description implies that it is but I really have no idea of how to do this. I have tried simply making covmat the covariance matrix but it doesn't wotk. I just get the message "'covmat' is not a valid covariance list"

Anyway, thanks for any thoughts you might have on this.

Alistair Campbell
-- 
Dr Alistair Campbell, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology
School of Psychology
James Cook University
Townsville Queensland Australia

Ph: +61 7 47816879