In Savalei's (2011) simulation that evaluated the performance of polychoric correlation estimates in small samples, two methods for treating zero-frequency cells, adding 0.5 (ADD) and doing nothing (NONE), were compared. Savalei tentatively suggested using ADD for binary data and NONE for data with three or more categories. Yet, Savalei's…

Simulation studies are needed to investigate how many score categories are sufficient to treat ordered categorical data as continuous, particularly for bifactor models. The current simulation study aims to address such needs by investigating the performance of estimation methods in the bifactor models with ordered categorical data. Results support…

Psychologists are emphasizing the importance of predictive conclusions. Machine learning methods, such as supervised neural networks, have been used in psychological studies as they naturally fit prediction tasks. However, we are concerned about whether neural networks fitted with random datasets (i.e., datasets where there is no relationship…

Marginal maximum likelihood, a common estimation method for item response theory models, is not inherently a Bayesian procedure. However, due to estimation difficulties, Bayesian priors are often applied to the likelihood when estimating 3PL models, especially with small samples. Little focus has been placed on choosing the priors for marginal…

Higher numeracy is associated with better comprehension and use of numeric information as well as reduced susceptibility to some decision biases. We extended this line of work by showing that increased numeracy predicted probability maximizing (versus matching) as well as a better appreciation of large sample sizes. At the same time, we replicated…

In statistics classes, the central limit theorem has been demonstrated using simulation-based illustrations. Known population distributions such as a uniform or exponential distribution are often used to consider the behavior of the sample mean in simulated samples. Unlike such simulations, a number of real-data-based simulations are here…

Normative studies are needed to obtain norms for comparing individuals with the reference population on relevant clinical or educational measures. Norms can be obtained in an efficient way by regressing the test score on relevant predictors, such as age and sex. When several measures are normed with the same sample, a multivariate regression-based…

While learners' evaluations of author trustworthiness have received much attention in prior research, less work has examined how students evaluate information within texts or engage in critique. Specifically, in this exploratory study, we sought to determine how effective higher education students were at engaging in research report critique, a…

Sample size and statistical power are important factors to consider when planning a research synthesis. Power analysis methods have been developed for fixed effect or random effects models, but until recently these methods were limited to simple data structures with a single, independent effect per study. Recent work has provided power…

In health technology assessment, matching-adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC) is the most common method for pairwise comparisons that control for imbalances in baseline characteristics across trials. One of the primary challenges in MAIC is the need to properly account for the additional uncertainty introduced by the matching process. Limited…

Recent methods have sought to improve precision in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) by utilizing data from large observational datasets for covariate adjustment. For example, consider an RCT aimed at evaluating a new algebra curriculum, in which a few dozen schools are randomly assigned to treatment (new curriculum) or control (standard…