This paper presents a model of recurrent multinomial sequences. Though there exists a quite considerable literature on modeling autocorrelation in numerical data and sequences of categorical outcomes, there is currently no systematic method of modeling patterns of recurrence in categorical sequences. This paper develops a means of discovering…

This software review discusses the capabilities of Stata to conduct item response theory modeling. The commands needed for fitting the popular one-, two-, and three-parameter logistic models are initially discussed. The procedure for testing the discrimination parameter equality in the one-parameter model is then outlined. The commands for fitting…

In the complex world of educational policy, causal inferences will be debated. As we review non-experimental designs in educational policy, we focus on how to clarify and focus the terms of debate. We begin by presenting the potential outcomes/counterfactual framework and then describe approximations to the counterfactual generated from the…

We describe a data mining pipeline to convert data from educational systems into knowledge component (KC) models. In contrast to other approaches, our approach employs and compares multiple model search methodologies (e.g., sparse factor analysis, covariance clustering) within a single pipeline. In this preliminary work, we describe our approach's…

Individuals draw conclusions about possibilities from assertions that make no explicit reference to them. The model theory postulates that assertions such as disjunctions refer to possibilities. Hence, a disjunction of the sort, "A or B or both," where "A" and "B" are sensible clauses, yields mental models of an…

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS), a link-tracing sampling and inference method for studying hard-to-reach populations, has been shown to produce asymptotically unbiased population estimates when its assumptions are satisfied. However, some of the assumptions are prohibitively difficult to reach in the field, and the violation of a crucial…

Hinterecker, Knauff, and Johnson-Laird (2016) compared the adequacy of the probabilistic new paradigm in reasoning with the recent revision of mental models theory (MMT) for explaining a novel class of inferences containing the modal term "possibly." For example, "the door is closed or the window is open or both," therefore,…

Statistical inference simply means to draw a conclusion based on information that comes from data. Error bars are the most commonly used tool for data analysis and inference in chemical engineering data studies. This work demonstrates, using common types of data collection studies, the importance of specifying the statistical model for sound…

Researchers often include covariates when they analyze the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), valuing the increased precision of the estimates over the potential of inducing small-sample bias when doing so. In this paper, we develop a sufficient condition which ensures that the inclusion of covariates does not induce small-sample bias…

In item response theory (IRT) modeling, the Fisher information matrix is used for numerous inferential procedures such as estimating parameter standard errors, constructing test statistics, and facilitating test scoring. In principal, these procedures may be carried out using either the expected information or the observed information. However, in…

This article aims to convince readers of the value of intersecting the scholarship of interdisciplinarity with the field of argumentation studies. The interdisciplinarity literature has not much engaged with the vehicle that carries interdisciplinary learning, languages, and locutions: the argument. On the argumentation studies side, despite the…

In a highly systematic literature, researchers have investigated the manner in which people make feature inferences in paradigms involving uncertain categorizations (e.g., Griffiths, Hayes, & Newell, 2012; Murphy & Ross, 1994, 2007, 2010a). Although researchers have discussed the implications of the results for models of categorization and…

This project focuses on the competitive pressure, or the threat of competitive pressure, generated by charter school policy. This paper uses longitudinal district-level data and multiple quasi-experimental designs to examine the relationship between two Ohio charter school policies and changes in public school district instructional resource…

Social networks are especially applicable in educational and psychological studies involving social interactions. A social network is defined as a specific relationship among a group of individuals. Social networks arise in a variety of situations such as friendships among children, collaboration and advice seeking among teachers, and coauthorship…

Based on Lord's criterion of equity of equating, van der Linden (this issue) revisits the so-called local equating method and offers alternative as well as new thoughts on several topics including the types of transformations, symmetry, reliability, and population invariance appropriate for equating. A remarkable aspect is to define equating…