A Tutorial on Evaluating Confirmatory Factor Analysis with lavaan and dynamic

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) enables researchers to evaluate how well the hypothesizedstructure of a measure fits the data. Fit indices, which quantify the degree of fit or misfit, areused to evaluate the factorial model. Traditionally, researchers have used fixed index cutoffvalues to judge the appropriateness of their factorial models. However, many have discussed thelimitations of using fixed cutoffs, as fixed values do not generalize to all kinds of models.Recently, McNeish & Wolf (2023) have developed the Dynamic Fit Index approach (DFI) whichenables the generation of fit index values that are tailored to the characteristics of the modelbeing tested. In the following tutorial, we conduct a CFA on the Attainment of SchoolAchievement Goal Scale (A-SAGS) using the lavaan package in R. We then generate fit indicesusing the dynamic package. When using fixed index cutoffs and fit indices generated bydynamic, the fit of the A-SAGS is mixed. We conclude that the DFI approach provides valuableinsight when evaluating factorial models and that it is very promising. We encourage psychologyresearchers to use it when using fit indices to evaluate their own models.Keywords: Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Fit evaluation, Fit indices, Dynamic fit. Tools:R.