Many psychometric measures yield data that are compatible with (a) an essentially unidimensional factor analysis solution and (b) a correlated-factor solution. Deciding which of these structures is the most appropriate and useful is of considerable importance, and various procedures have been proposed to help in this decision. The only fully…

This article provides readers with an accessible and minimally technical description of foundational issues surrounding the analysis of individual change--that is, the amount by which a given construct related to individuals changes over time. Of primary focus is an explanation of what is meant by construct commensurability, the requirement that…

This article describes the development and the initial psychometric evaluation of the Social Issues Advocacy Scale in two studies. In the first study, an exploratory factor analysis (n = 278) revealed a four-factor scale, accounting for 71.4% of the variance, measuring different aspects of social issue advocacy: Political and Social Advocacy,…

Although computerized adaptive tests have enjoyed tremendous growth, solutions for important problems remain unavailable. One problem is the control of item exposure rate. Because adaptive algorithms are designed to select optimal items, they choose items with high discriminating power. Thus, these items are selected more often than others,…

This paper summarizes much of the available information concerning the reliability and validity of the Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests). The data suggest that the results are sufficiently reliable for continued use and that the validity evidence generally supports the intended uses of the tests. (Author/LMO)

When selection occurs on the basis of two or more predictors, multivariate restriction of range can reduce various parameters of a validation study. A Statistical Analysis System (SAS) and a Fortran IV program are described that allow for correction of criterion standard deviation(s) and zero-order validities. (Author)

Shows how a theorem proven by H. Brogden (1951, 1959) can be used to estimate the allocation average (a predictor based classification of a test battery) assuming that the predictor intercorrelations and validities are known and that the predictor variables have a joint multivariate normal distribution. (SLD)

Suggests two complementary frameworks for providing validity evidence for rating data. One conceptualizes raters as data collection instruments that should be subject to traditional procedures for establishing validity evidence; the other evaluates studies using raters from an experimental design perspective allowing the assessment of the study's…

The Test of Logical Thinking was designed to measure five modes of formal reasoning: controlling variables, proportional reasoning, combinatorial reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, and correlational reasoning. Analysis of data from students, grades 6-16 indicated high test reliability and confirmed that the test measures one underlying dimension,…

The Institutional Integration Scale is claimed to measure five facets of college student academic and social integration. The scale was based on Tintos model of college student withdrawal. Psychometric properties of the scale were examined based on a sample of 1st-year college students. These results led to item revisions and additions. The scale…

This article reports three studies in which a scale for assessing teachers' beliefs about professional-development initiatives was developed and its scores evaluated for reliability and validity. Results indicated that the Teachers' Attitudes About Professional Development (TAP) scale produced scores with high reliability, a stable one-factor…

The development and validation of the Vocational Interest Inventory, a forced choice guidance instrument is described. It assists high school students, whose interests are not well differentiated, in making post-high school educational and vocational decisions. (JKS)

For a number of years, the dominant approach to measuring individual differences in how people respond to interpersonal conflict has been the dual-concerns model, which assesses five broad conflict styles said to result from one's standing on two underlying dimensions: concern for self and concern for other. This article describes the development…