With the publication of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition", autism spectrum disorders are defined by two symptom clusters (social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors) instead of the current three clusters. The current study examined the structure of the Baby and Infant Screen for…

This article presents research to delineate the construct of instructor strategic ambiguity (ISA) and develop a measure. The first study analyzed instructor uses of ambiguity, identified 18 strategies, and classified them into four categories. The second study developed an Instructor Strategic Ambiguity Measure (ISAM) for the college classroom.…

Three university ranking systems in vogue have been shown in the previous issue of "Higher Education Review" to be capable of modifications to make them more parsimonious by using only about half of the number of predictors currently in use. This makes some of the predictors "redundant" as they contributed little to the overall ranking. It is…

A procedure for item analysis using distance clustering is described. Items are grouped according to the predominant factors measured, regardless of what they are. The procedure provides an efficient method of treating unanswered items. (Author/RC)

The results of a questionnaire suggested that therapists and patients do not view therapy within the same frame of reference. (CK)

A method of typological analysis was applied to computer-generated 96-item questionnaire data for 100 cases, under a variety of conditions to analyze both the item-level and score-level. The results showed a considerable advantage of score-level approach in the number, size, and replicability of clusters recovered. (DEP)

Simulation and real data studies are used to investigate the value of modeling multiple-choice distractors on item response theory linking. Using the characteristic curve linking procedure for Bock's (1972) nominal response model presented by Kim and Hanson (2002), all-category linking (i.e., a linking based on all category characteristic curves…

A method of analysis is developed which accounts for whatever variance is present in the responses to test items, additive, configural or the two combined. The method is applied to successive column matrices which report frequencies or endorsements by categories of subjects to answer alternative sets of test items. Approaches are included which…

DETECT, the acronym for Dimensionality Evaluation To Enumerate Contributing Traits, is an innovative and relatively new nonparametric dimensionality assessment procedure used to identify mutually exclusive, dimensionally homogeneous clusters of items using a genetic algorithm ( Zhang & Stout, 1999). Because the clusters of items are mutually…

This study (a) provided a conceptual introduction to differential item functioning (DIF), (b) introduced the multifaceted Rasch rating scale model (MRSM) and an associated statistical procedure for identifying DIF in rating scale items, and (c) applied this procedure to previously collected data from American coaches who responded to the coaching…

Most responses to educational and psychological test items may be represented in binary form. However, such dichotomously scored items present special problems when an analysis of correlational interrelationships among the items is attempted. Two general methods of analyzing binary data are proposed by Horst to partial out the effects of…

Confirmatory factor analysis is presented as providing appropriate techniques for the analysis and evaluation of questionnaires and tests if the content of the measure can be identified as consisting of groups of items, with each group measuring only a single trait. This approach is contrasted with latent trait theory which assumes (and does not…

Factor analyses of two forms of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Test were undertaken to better understand the abilities affecting test performance. Results suggest that three global abilities--two verbal and one quantitative--are consistently tapped by the GRE Aptitude Test. Other less prominent dimensions--some of which appear to…

This report contains accounts of studies, about scales to be used in the "A Study of Schooling" research project, undertaken to derive indices for constructs presumed to be measureable by composites of items. The report is introduced by a discussion on the rationale for selecting the research methodology used and an explanation of the…