Dear readers,

I am carrying out a study with panel data from 2011 to 2016 for several cities. I created some factors based on the principal component analysis PCA results (command "pca"), on the exploratory factor analysis EFA results (command "factor"), and on the literature review.

However, I want to analyze the goodness of fit indices for the factors (e.g., CFI, RMSEA, factor loadings significance...). To do so, I run the "confa" command and I get always an error. I paste it below. Please note that I called the factors that I previously created f20 and f17 and the name of the items that form the factors start with "ie...".

. confa (f20:ieq11d ieq16d ieq17d ieq110d ieq111d ieq112d ieq29d) (f17:ieq23d ieq24d ieq27d ieq28d)

initial: log likelihood = -4904.2775
rescale: log likelihood = -4904.2775
rescale eq: log likelihood = -303.87926
could not calculate numerical derivatives
flat or discontinuous region encountered
convergence not achieved
r(430);


I was planning to run "estat fitindices" afterwards but the program does not allow me to do it.

. estat fitindices
last estimates not found
r(301);


I have also tried with the options "missing", "from", "level"...and I always got an error.

Am I addressing the issue correctly? Is there any specification for the "confa" command that I am not taking into account?

Thank you very much for your help.
Best,
Maria