APA Dictionary of Psychology

(SSA) a statistical technique for creating a visual representation of data, in which more closely correlated variables are grouped together. Smallest space refers to the fewest number of geometric dimensions (e.g., one dimension may be denoted by a line, two by a square, three by a cube) by which a body of data may be adequately represented. Similar in purpose to factor analysis and principal components analysis, smallest space analysis may be applied to the assessment of objects, persons, attitudes, test constructs, and other similar variables.