The results of a content analysis of the mail survey methodologies used in three studies of diverse higher education topics are reported. Each study used Dillman's Total Design Method procedures and obtained a high rate of return. (MLW)

Participants (N=12) met individually with a counselor for 20 minutes each. The interviews were videotaped. Participants rated two types of recalled affect at the times of occurrence of each of six counselor nonverbal gestures. Results support moderate reliability for videotape-assisted recall ratings of recalled affect. (BH)

Defined verbal behavior categories for clients (the Client Verbal Behavior System, CL-VBS), and for counselors (the Counselor Verbal Behavior System, CO-VBS), to match the categories in the Carkhuff and Ivey training models, in order to study the acquisition of the skills and their impact on client responses and outcomes. (Author/JAC)

Discusses Magazine Index's practice of assigning letter grades (sometimes inaccurate) to book, restaurant, and movie reviews, thus allowing patrons to get the point of the review from the index rather than the article itself, and argues that this situation is indicative of the larger problem of reliability of abstracts. (MBR)

This study examined the accuracy of focused teacher self-reports for nine secondary English teachers. Teacher accuracy was high, suggesting that focused teacher self-reports can gather reliable data on instructional practices. (Author/MT)

Investigated degree to which judges could simulate Basic Personality Inventory (BPI) responses of a clinically depressed patient group. Judgmental profiles of depressed patients indicated very high reliabilities across information conditions, a high association with actual profiles of clinically depressed patients, and differentiation from other…

In most selection validation research, only the upper and lower tails of the criterion distribution are used, often yielding misleading or incorrect results. Provides formulas and tables which enable the researcher to account more accurately for the distribution of criterion within the middle range of population. (Author/RW)

Testing showed the dynamometer to be a sufficiently accurate instrument for recording force-time and force-displacement curves. (GW)

This paper discusses the results of a study comparing the psychometric qualities of two forms of a survey, one administered in paper-and-pencil format and the other administered in Web format. The survey addressed the topic of college course anxiety and was used to survey a sample of undergraduate students (n=36). The psychometric qualities…

Undifferentiating response sets, defined as "overuse" of any category of a Likert scale, were identified using a combination of simple criteria, such as whether a single-category response set involved more than four items, and statistical criteria based on D. Andrich's (1978) measurement model for Likert scales (the Rating Scale model). Data were…

The purpose of the study was to compare reliability estimates for a test composed of stimulus-dependent testlets as derived from item scores, testlet scores, and under the univariate generalizability theory and multivariate generalizability theory designs, as well as to determine the influence of the number of testlets and the number of items per…

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Application of Cognitive Functions Scale (ACFS) (C. Lidz and R. Jepsen, 1997) Behavior Observation Rating Scale. The study involved observational ratings of 25 participants who were enrolled in a preschool for children with developmental disabilities. Validity was investigated by determining…

This study examined the reliability and validity of self-reported survey data on instructional practices. It was based on a nationwide survey of more than 25,000 teachers in more than 1,000 schools across 5 years. The survey instrument was the Classroom Instructional Practice Scale (CIPS), which was based on the Classroom Information Sheet…

A study was conducted to identify local item dependence (LID) in the context-dependent item sets used in an examination prepared for use in an introductory university physics class and to assess the effects of LID on estimates of the reliability and standard error of measurement. Test scores were obtained for 487 students in the physics class. The…

In item calibration using LOGIST (M. Wingersky, R. Patrick, and F. Lord, 1987), when the program determines that it cannot accurately estimate the c-parameter for a particular item due to insufficient information at the lower levels of ability, an estimate of the c-parameters, called COMC, is obtained by combining all such items. The purpose of…