Merit pay initiatives transparently alter the teaching profession and goings-on within classrooms, and thereby promise to stoke the self-interests of the two most prominent stakeholders in public education: teachers and parents. This memo summarizes the authors' ongoing efforts to empirically evaluate the extent to which public debates about merit…

This paper reviews graphical and nongraphical procedures for evaluating multivariate normality by guiding the reader through univariate and bivariate procedures that are necessary, but insufficient, indications of a multivariate normal distribution. A data set using three dependent variables for two groups provided by D. George and P. Mallery…

This paper illustrates how canonical correlation analysis can be employed to implement all the parametric tests that canonical methods subsume as special cases. The point is heuristic: all analyses are correlational, all apply weights to measured variables to create synthetic variables, and all yield effect sizes analogous to "r"…

Monte Carlo methods were used to investigate the effects of removing extreme data points identified by five indices of influence. Multivariate normal data were simulated and observations were removed from samples if they exceeded the criteria suggested in the literature for each influence statistic. Factors included in the design of the Monte…

The use of repeated measures research designs is explored. Repeated measures designs are often advantageous and can be implemented in a variety of research settings. One of the main advantages in repeated measures designs is the control of subject variability. Other advantages are the reduction of error variance and economy in subject recruitment.…

Similarities and differences in the univariate and multivariate analysis of repeated measures designs are discussed, using a hypothetical data set studying the effects of practice on the algebra performance of four students to illustrate both methods. When data are analyzed through the univariate approach and the homogeneity assumption is…

In the present study Monte Carlo methods were employed to evaluate the degree to which canonical function and structure coefficients may be differentially sensitive to sampling error. Sampling error influences were investigated across variations in variable and sample (n) sizes, and across variations in average within-set correlation sizes and in…

This examination of data selection preceding multivariate analysis compares results grained with "gentle" and "draconian" variable elimination. To acquire comparable results, two stages of statistical exploration into an integrated model of motivation, learning strategies, and quality of teaching were used. The goal of the…

The use of canonical analysis and multiple discriminant analysis to analyze equity-parity in colleges and universities is assessed and distinguished from multiple regression analysis. Multiple regression analysis forces the variable weights throughout the salary structure to be uniform, permits only one criterion or dependent variable to be…

About 30,000 students in Grades 1 through 12 in Jackson, Mississippi, were studied to determine the effectiveness of instruction for all major social groups represented by the student population during the 1986-87 school year. The California Achievement Test and course grades were used to obtain core data. Demographic data were obtained for…

The relationship between prior educational attainment and participation in formal and On-the-Job Training (OJT) in Australia was examined through an analysis of unit record data from the 1993 Survey of Training and Education that was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Univariate analyses were performed to document employee…

Over the past 15 years a body of research has investigated organizational transitions in adolescent development. Researchers studying school transitions exclusively ask whether significant transition affects students' social and psychological development. To test the presence of transition effects, researchers have typically observed mean…