It is suggested that the low reliability of five low-inference and two high-inference classroom observation systems are due not to lack of agreement among rates, but to apparent variation in teacher behavior across occasions. (Author/MJB)

The author reviews the literature relating to student evaluations of faculty. She addresses the issues of reliability and validity. The appropriateness of various evaluation forms is discussed and a recent experiment testing the validity of a particular student evaluation form is described. (CH)

Describes two new measures of consistency which refer to the extent to which more closely related scale types are found together in Holland's Self-Directed Search sort. One measure is based on the hexagonal model for use with three-point codes. The other is based on conditional probabilities for use with two-point codes. (Author/ABL)

This study was concerned with the effects of reliability of observations, sample size, magnitudes of treatment effects, and the shape of the sampled population on the relative power of the paired samples rank transform statistic and Wilcoxon's signed ranks statistic. (Author/LMO)

Under the assumption of normalcy, a formula is derived for the reliability of the maximum score. It is shown that the maximum score is more reliable than each of the single observations but less reliable than their composite score. (Author/LMO)

A study involving 50 educationally handicapped (EH), 37 learning disabled (LD), and 40 nonhandicapped (NH) children revealed that when measures were administered weekly over three consecutive weeks, NH subjects' variability was greater than either LD or EH subjects. When subjects were tested on three passages in one sitting, no reliable difference…

A dictated word list assessment and a dictated paragraph assessment were administered to 20 learning disabled (LD) elementary students. Error-pattern consistency indicated that the LD subjects utilized systematic approaches to spelling dictated words. Findings supported the use of diagnostic error-analysis techniques and a structured approach to…

The development, reliability, and validity of five scales designed to measure perceived freedom in leisure are explored in this article. Value of the scales for assessment and basic research on the state of mind view of leisure are discussed. (Author/DF)

In this first of two installments, a description of the interactions of numerical databases (NDBs) for science with the various community sectors highlights data evaluation and the roles that NDBs will likely play. Twenty-four studies and articles dealing with needs for reliable physical, chemical, and mechanical property data are noted. (EJS)

The Scales for Investigation of the Dual-Career Family were revised and administered to a sample of 70 women. Internal consistency, scale intercorrelations, and correlations with sex role identity are reported. (Author)

Describes a new observational study of home television viewing by young children which involved placement of time-lapse video cameras in the homes of five-year-olds from middle-class families for a 10-day period. Families maintained TV viewing diaries, and control groups of families were employed to assess the impact of observational equipment in…

Describes an alternative, relaxed, discipline system with four simple rules: (1) use mild consequences initially, (2) enforce rules without anger, (3) track each student infraction, and (4) reward frequently but unpredictably. (MD)

Three versions of a rating scale were compared for reliability and level of ratings. Results indicated that the wording of items influence these factors; that items should be written in order to maximize their meaning; and that response categories should be unique to each item. (Author/RW)

Response error refers to the tendency to respond to items based on the perceived social desirability or undesirability of given responses. Response error can be particularly problematic when all or most of the items on a measure are extremely attractive or unattractive. The present paper proposes a method of (a) distinguishing among preferences…

This paper provides analytic evaluations of expected (marginal) true-score measures for binary items given their item response theory (IRT) calibration. Under the assumption of normal trait distributions, marginalized true scores, error variance, true score variance, and reliability for norm-referenced and criterion-references interpretations are…