Exploratory factor analysis is a statistical method commonly used in psychological research to investigate latent variables and to develop questionnaires. Although such self-report questionnaires are prone to missing values, there is not much literature on this topic with regard to exploratory factor analysis--and especially the process of factor…

A latent variable modeling approach for scale reliability evaluation in heterogeneous populations is discussed. The method can be used for point and interval estimation of reliability of multicomponent measuring instruments in populations representing mixtures of an unknown number of latent classes or subpopulations. The procedure is helpful also…

It is more common for educational and psychological data to be nonnormal than to be approximately normal. This tendency may lead to bias and error in point estimates of the Pearson correlation coefficient. In a series of Monte Carlo simulations, the Pearson correlation was examined under conditions of normal and nonnormal data, and it was compared…

In large-scale educational surveys, a latent regression model is used to compensate for the shortage of cognitive information. Conventionally, the covariates in the latent regression model are principal components extracted from background data. This operational method has several important disadvantages, such as the handling of missing data and…

When conducting item reviews, analysts evaluate an array of statistical and graphical information to assess the fit of a field test (FT) item to an item response theory model. The process can be tedious, particularly when the number of human reviews (HR) to be completed is large. Furthermore, such a process leads to decisions that are susceptible…

A short description of cross-lagged correlation technique (CLC) in its most common form, a sketch of recent major criticisms of CLC as a test for causality, and a moderate appraisal of CLC as an exploratory technique are offered. (Author/PN)

Presents a procedure for determining the optimal number of conditions to use in multifaceted measurement designs when resource constraints are imposed. The procedure is illustrated for the case in which the costs per condition vary within the same facet. (Author)

Ford's procedure is likely to be useful whenever one wants to achieve a single rank order by combining data obtained from multiple judges'' who have placed objects'' into ordered categories. (Authors)

Monte Carlo simulations were used to examine three cases using analyses of variance (ANOVAs) sequentially. Simulation results show that Type I error rates increase when using ANOVAs in this sequential fashion, and the detrimental effect is greatest in situations in which researchers would most likely use ANOVAs sequentially. (SLD)

This study describes how much and in what ways authors of research studies fail to include adequate information about data collection. Results based on analysis of 220 articles from 22 journals show that the quality of measurement reporting continues to be a problem. (SLD)

The authors provide a cautionary note on reporting accurate eta-squared values from multifactor analysis of variance (ANOVA) designs. They reinforce the distinction between classical and partial eta-squared as measures of strength of association. They provide examples from articles published in premier psychology journals in which the authors…

Comments based on J. J. Kennedy's The eta coefficient in complex ANOVA designs,'' EJ 031 388. (CB)

An analytic procedure is presented which casts sequential moderator analysis in the role of a multivariate test of parallelism of regressions. The procedure addresses a test for comparing predictor-criterion relationships for one set of measurements or multiple predictors and repeated measurements on a criterion. (Author/PN)

Purposes of multivariate analyses are discussed, focusing on the primary purposes of prediction and structure identification and the secondary purpose of response variable ordering. The sound initial choice of response variables and the advisability of simpler analyses when feasible are discussed. (SLD)