We present a method for Bayesian structural equation modeling of sample correlation matrices as correlation structures. The method transforms the sample correlation matrix to an unbounded vector using the matrix logarithm function. Bayesian inference about the unbounded vector is performed assuming a multivariate-normal likelihood, with a mean…

The presence of clustered data is common in the sociobehavioral sciences. One approach that specifically deals with clustered data but has seen little use in education is the generalized estimating equations (GEEs) approach. We provide a background on GEEs, discuss why it is appropriate for the analysis of clustered data, and provide worked…

Estimation of within-trial interactions in meta-analysis is crucial for reliable assessment of how treatment effects vary across participant subgroups. However, current methods have various limitations. Patients, clinicians and policy-makers need reliable estimates of treatment effects within specific covariate subgroups, on relative and absolute…

Multivariate meta-analysis, which jointly analyzes multiple and possibly correlated outcomes in a single analysis, is becoming increasingly popular in recent years. An attractive feature of the multivariate meta-analysis is its ability to account for the dependence between multiple estimates from the same study. However, standard inference…

In medical sciences, a disease condition is typically associated with multiple risk and protective factors. Although many studies report results of multiple factors, nearly all meta-analyses separately synthesize the association between each factor and the disease condition of interest. The collected studies usually report different subsets of…

Since the publishing of Nolan and Temple Lang's "Computing in the Statistics Curriculum" in 2010, the American Statistical Association issued new recommendations in the revised GAISE college report. To reflect modern practice and technologies, they emphasize giving students experience with multivariable thinking. Students develop…

Data collected from surveys can result in hundreds of variables and thousands of respondents. This implies that time and energy must be devoted to (a) carefully entering the data into a database, (b) running preliminary analyses to identify any problems (e.g., missing data, potential outliers), (c) checking the reliability and validity of the…

Realistic response rate expectations are important for successfully allocating and managing data collection efforts under limited resources. Interviewer performance is often evaluated against response rate standards, and face-to-face interviewer performance can vary due to, in part, the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods in which…

This Communication summarizes one of the invited papers to the Select 2016 BCCE Presentations ACS CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education online ConfChem held from October 30 to November 22, 2016. The ConfChem paper (included within Supporting Information) focuses on the results of one instructor's incorporation of social media into her…

In this article, the authors talk about variation and how variation between measurements may be reduced if sampling is not random. They also talk about replication and its variants. A replicate is a repeated measurement from the same experimental unit. An experimental unit is the smallest part of an experiment or a study that can be subject to a…

In the case of trials with nested data, the optimal allocation of units depends on the budget, the costs, and the intracluster correlation coefficient. In general, the intracluster correlation coefficient is unknown in advance and an initial guess has to be made based on published values or subject matter knowledge. This initial estimate is likely…

It has been unclear whether adolescent deliberate self-harm (DSH) is more associated with substance use or with characterological impairments. Multivariate determination of (N = 114 Scottish adolescents) ever engaging in DSH (Youth Risk Behavior Survey) from alcohol use, other substance use, and immature defense mechanism use (Defense Style…

This article presents the idea that distance delivery in social work education is seen as an interaction between four constructs: the student, the setting in which the education is delivered, the educational content, and the expected educational outcomes. To fully understand these interactions, clear operational indicators, well established in…

This article provides a conceptual introduction to the issues surrounding the analysis of clustered (nested) data. We define the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the design effect, and we explain their effect on the standard error. When the ICC is greater than 0, then the design effect is greater than 1. In such a scenario, the…

Salthouse (2011) critically reviewed cross-sectional and longitudinal relations among adult age, brain structure, and cognition (ABC) and identified problems in interpretation of the extant literature. His review, however, missed several important points. First, there is enough disparity among the measures of brain structure and cognitive…