This short-term longitudinal study investigated the relationships between students' reading self-concept, goals for reading, and reading fluency skill over the course of the second grade year. Second-grade children (N = 185) were administered the Test of Word Reading Efficiency, the second-grade Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills,…

Introduction: Research pertaining to achievement goals and reflective thinking practice has received considerable attention in educational psychology. However, very few, if any, studies have looked at the impact of the classroom climate and how this psychosocial milieu may influence students' engagement in achievement goals and reflective thinking…

A model of the relation between self-concept and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviours in adolescence, with the self-concept influencing problem behaviours (S[right arrow]IE), was assessed using a sample of 277 Swedish adolescents. The model was tested in a path analysis with data from Youth Self Report (YSR) and Structural Analysis…

In this essay, the author tries to look forward into the 21st century to divine three things: (i) What skills will researchers in the future need to solve the most pressing problems? (ii) What are some of the most likely candidates to be those problems? and (iii) What are some current areas of research that seem mined out and should not distract…

Retirement counselors, financial service professionals, and retirement intervention specialists routinely emphasize the importance of developing clear goals for the future; however, few empirical studies have focused on the benefits of retirement goal setting. In the present study, the extent to which goal clarity and financial planning activities…

Over the past 25 years, numerous researchers have studied the effects of mentoring on work outcomes. However, several reviewers have noted that many of the observed relationships between mentoring and its outcomes are potentially spurious. To summarize this widely dispersed literature, a quantitative research synthesis was conducted focused on…

This comment is intended to complement points made by Freedman in his critique of the path analysis method. The role of statistical analysis in social sciences is also discussed. (RB)

Comment agrees with Freedman's criticism of the path analysis model for studying education and social stratification. The model makes assumptions about how data are generated that are generally false. (RB)

Despite widespread efforts to prevent reading problems and an abundance of research about best practices in remediating reading skills deficits, reading continues to be exceptionally difficult for many students. Researchers have become interested in investigating the degree to which affective factors such as reading attitude relates to reading…

Duplicates an analysis conducted 20 years ago on physics enrollment in New York State in an attempt to verify the exploratory percentage enrollment in physics path analysis model using data gathered for the 1990-91 school year. Findings indicate that there has been no change in the set of variables related to physics enrollment. (Author/JRH)

Objective: The goals of this research are to develop and test a prospective model of attention problems in sexually abused children that includes fixed variables (e.g., gender), trauma, and disclosure-related pathways. Methods: At Time 1, fixed variables, trauma variables, and stress reactions upon disclosure were assessed in 156 children aged…

This paper presents the finding of an investigation for determining course achievement utilizing the statistical technique of path analysis. (Author)

This paper reports on attempts by the author to construct a theoretical framework of adult education participation using a theory development process and the corresponding multivariate statistical techniques. Two problems are identified: the lack of theoretical framework in studying problems, and the limiting of statistical analysis to univariate…

Explains two methods of systems analysis: the Fix-Point (FP) and the Partial Least Squares (PLS). Argues against Freedman's rejection of the structural assumptions of path analysis models. (RB)

Freedman responds to a series of articles commenting on his critique of the path analysis model. The focus of this rejoinder is the assumptions made by researchers who use the path analysis method, particularly the assumption that the equations in path analysis are structural. (RB)