The multiple imputation two-stage (MI2S) approach holds promise for evaluating the model fit of structural equation models for ordinal variables with multiply imputed data. However, previous studies only examined the performance of MI2S-based residual-based test statistics. This study extends previous research by examining the performance of two…

In psychology, researchers are often interested in testing hypotheses about mediation, such as testing the presence of a mediation effect of a treatment (e.g., intervention assignment) on an outcome via a mediator. An increasingly popular approach to testing hypotheses is the Bayesian testing approach with Bayes factors (BFs). Despite the growing…

In recent years, Computerized Multistage Testing (MST), with their versatile benefits, have found themselves a wide application in large scale assessments and have increased their popularity. The fact that forms can be made ready before the exam application, such as a linear test, and that they can be adapted according to the test taker's ability…

Survey instruments and assessments are frequently used in many domains of social science. When the constructs that these assessments try to measure become multifaceted, multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) provides a unified framework and convenient statistical tool for item analysis, calibration, and scoring. However, the computational…

Researchers often study dynamic processes of latent variables in everyday life, such as the interplay of positive and negative affect over time. An intuitive approach is to first estimate the measurement model of the latent variables, then compute factor scores, and finally use these factor scores as observed scores in vector autoregressive…

Network meta-analysis has played an important role in evidence-based medicine for assessing the comparative effectiveness of multiple available treatments. The prediction interval has been one of the standard outputs in recent network meta-analysis as an effective measure that enables simultaneous assessment of uncertainties in treatment effects…

The current and ongoing challenges brought on by climate change will require future scientists who have hands-on experience using advanced molecular techniques, can work with large data sets, and can make correlations between metadata and microbial diversity. A course-embedded research project can prepare students to answer complex research…

This study aims to examine the effects of mixture item response theory (IRT) models on item parameter estimation and classification accuracy under different conditions. The manipulated variables of the simulation study are set as mixture IRT models (Rasch, 2PL, 3PL); sample size (600, 1000); the number of items (10, 30); the number of latent…

Among current state-of-art estimation methods for multilevel IRT models, the two-stage divide-and-conquer strategy has practical advantages, such as clearer definition of factors, convenience for secondary data analysis, convenience for model calibration and fit evaluation, and avoidance of improper solutions. However, various studies have shown…

Causal inference regarding a hypothesized mediation mechanism relies on the assumptions that there are no omitted pretreatment confounders (i.e., confounders preceding the treatment) of the treatment-mediator, treatment-outcome, and mediator-outcome relationships, and there are no posttreatment confounders (i.e., confounders affected by the…

Two studies investigated the accuracy of eight different interval-based group observation methods that are commonly used to assess the effects of classwide interventions. In Study 1, a Microsoft Visual Basic program was created to simulate a large set of observational data. Binary data were randomly generated at the student level to represent…

In a world of great complexity, understanding the manner states act and react becomes more and more an intriguing quest due to the multiple relations of dependence and interdependence that characterize "the global puzzle". Within this context, an analysis based on a geopolitical approach becomes a very useful means used to determine not…

In this paper, an interactive teaching approach to introduce the concept of sampling distributions using the statistical software program, R, is shown. One advantage of this approach is that the program R is freely available via the internet. Instructors can easily demonstrate concepts in class, outfit entire computer labs, and/or assign the…