Descriptive analyses of socially important or theoretically interesting phenomena and trends are a vital component of research in the behavioral, social, economic, and health sciences. Such analyses yield reliable results when using representative individual participant data (IPD) from studies with complex survey designs, including educational…

We extend a unified and easy-to-use approach to measurement error and missing data. In our companion article, Blackwell, Honaker, and King give an intuitive overview of the new technique, along with practical suggestions and empirical applications. Here, we offer more precise technical details, more sophisticated measurement error model…

This paper includes a nontechnical description of methods for calculating effect sizes in intellectual and developmental disability studies. Different hypothetical studies are used to illustrate how null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) and effect size findings can result in quite different outcomes and therefore conflicting results. Whereas…

Acquiring research skills is considered to be a highly challenging aspect of developing expertise in the social sciences. Because instruction and mentoring in these skills are typically grounded in the self-report of researchers, difficulties in learning the material may be due to the content and accuracy of these explanations. Using a…

Districts now have access to a wealth of new information that can help target students with appropriate supports and bring focus and coherence to college readiness efforts. However, the abundance of data has brought its own challenges. Schools and school systems are often overwhelmed with the amount of data available. The capacity of districts to…

The question as to which structural equation model should be selected when multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data are analyzed is of interest to many researchers. In the past, attempts to find a well-fitting model have often been data-driven and highly arbitrary. In the present article, the authors argue that the measurement design (type of methods…

Recent work has shown that multidimensionally scoring responses from different tests can provide better ability estimates. For educational assessment data, applications of this approach have been limited to binary scores. Of the different variants, the de la Torre and Patz model is considered more general because implementing the scoring procedure…

To explore whether different balances of fiction/non-fiction reading and challenge might help explain differences in reading achievement between genders, data on 45,670 pupils who independently read over 3 million books were analysed. Moderate (rather than high or low) levels of challenge were positively associated with achievement gain, but…

Several important issues related to canonical correlation have been recognized and resolved during the last several years. The purpose of this presentation is to offer an organized, comprehensive, and current annotated bibliography of the many recent developments and extensions of canonical methods. The bibliography does not emphasize references…

This paper presents a promising new item bias detection technique that derives practical appeal from its simplicity and economy, and provides data relating to the method's consistency across samples. The proposed regression on item characteristics (RIC) method is a straightforward and inexpensive approach to the study of item bias, based on…

Few methods have been tried and used to graphically represent more than two variables. This poster session showed a new method for representing three continuous variables on a single scatterplot using the THREEDE computer program. Two variables are represented as a normal bivariate distribution. The third variable is represented by a symbol, e.g.…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandated statewide accountability testing and focused the accountability conversation on reading. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between curriculum-based measurement for reading (R-CBM) and state accountability test scores, potential grade differences in relationship magnitude, and…

This project investigated the relationship between Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) composite scores and student performance in Air Force air weapons controller training. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of using AFOQT scores as one selection criteria for entry to the air weapons controller field. An analysis of…

The focus of this study was on the relationship between visual and statistical analyses of time series data and the degree to which characteristics of the data influenced this relationship. A total of 52 teachers took part in evaluating a series of graphs having prespecified characteristics. The independent variables manipulated included: slope,…