A method of introducing a controlled degree of skew and kurtosis for Monte Carlo studies was derived. The form of such a transformation on normal deviates is given. Analytic and empirical validation of the method is demonstrated. (Author/JKS)

There are good reasons for the growing popularity of Monte Carlo procedures; but with increasing use comes increasing misuse. A variety of exact and approximate alternatives should be considered before one chooses to approach a problem with Monte Carlo methods. Once it has been decided that simulation is desirable, consideration should be given to…

Through Monte Carlo procedures, three different techniques for estimating the parameter theta (proportion of the "shocks" remaining in the system) in the Integrated Moving Average (0,1,1) time-series model are compared in terms of (1) the accuracy of the estimates, (2) the independence of the estimates from the true value of theta, and…

A Monte Carlo simulation was employed to determine the accuracy with which the shrinkage in R squared can be estimated by five different shrinkage formulas. The study dealt with the use of shrinkage formulas for various sample sizes, different R squared values, and different degrees of multicollinearity. (Author/JKS)

INTERTAIL, the computer program which implements an approach to tailored testing outlined by Cliff (1975), was examined with errorless data in several Monte Carlo studies. Three replications of each cell of a 3 x 3 table with 10, 20 and 40 items and persons were analyzed. Mean rank correlation coefficients between the true order, specified by…

False-positive and false-negative dicisions are the fundamental errors committed with a mastery test; yet the estimation of the likelihood of committing these errors has not been investigated. Accordingly, two methods of estimating the likelihood of committing these errors are described and then investigated using Monte Carlo techniques.…

Believing that examinee-by-item interaction should be conceptualized as true score variability rather than as a result of errors of measurement, Lu proposed a modification of Hoyt's analysis of variance reliability procedure. Via a computer simulation study, it is shown that Lu's approach does not separate interaction from error. (Author/RL)