This report provides preliminary technical information on a method for analyzing the factors involved in the closing of elementary schools. Included is a presentation of data and a brief discussion bearing on descriptive statistics, reliability, and validity. An intercorrelation matrix is also examined. The method employs 9 factors that have a…

In today's complex computer-based teaching (CBT)/computer-assisted instruction market, flashy presentations frequently prove the most important purchasing element, while instructional design and content are secondary to form. Courseware purchasers must base decisions upon either a vendor's presentation or some published evaluator rating.…

This paper describes how a naturalistic inquirer can demonstrate rigor, or trustworthiness, and how an auditor might assess it. Looking at both inquiry products and processes, Part 1 of this paper describes how an audit may assess whether an inquiry's findings and conclusions are grounded in the raw data, and whether appropriate conventions were…

This paper discusses four criteria for selecting covariates when utilizing the analysis of covariance in quasiexperimental research: completeness, causation, independence, and fallibility. Completeness is the extent to which the known or suspected sources of bias are accounted for by covariates used in an experiment. Causation is the requirement…

Noting that public opinion polls are here to stay, this report focuses on the difficulties of good poll reporting in newspapers that use (1) syndicated polls; (2) private polls from political candidates, or (3) their own polls, and argues that newspapers must learn how to report them well. The first section of the report traces the history of…

Research indicating that different cut-off points result from the use of different standard-setting techniques leaves decision makers with a disturbing dilemma: Which standard-setting method is best? This investigation of the reliability and validity of 10 different standard-setting approaches was designed to provide information that might help…

This paper outlines the use of confirmatory factor analytic techniques to assess the reliability of television program checklists as indicators of television exposure, to estimate the stability of television exposure over time, and to detect patterns of television content preference. A causal model incorporating these three properties was…

The development of a valid and reliable method of assessing recreational patterns was the purpose of this study. Recreational activities were classified using activity clusters and the setting for the activity. This information yielded a two-dimensional matrix for viewing activities. The first dimension of the matrix was the recreational activity…

The importance of validity and reliability in the componential analysis of human intelligence is discussed. The roles of construct, internal, external, convergent, discriminant, and ecological validity in componential analysis are outlined. Within-replication (internal-consistency) and between-replication (alternate-forms or test-retest)…

THIS PROJECT ASSESSED THE RELATIVE SKILLS OF PRACTICING PHYSICIANS IN SOLVING DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT PROBLEMS PRESENTED IN A CONFERENCE FORMAT BEFORE AND AFTER TWO-WAY RADIO INSTRUCTION. TEST RETEST RELIABILITY DATA FOR CORRECT DIAGNOSES YIELDED SIGNIFICANT CHANGES BEFORE AND AFTER INSTRUCTION. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN PHYSICIAN CHARACTERISTICS…

Findings of this 20-year longitudinal study support Kohlberg's theoretical predictions of invariant structural consistency of subjects' responses to hypothetical moral dilemmas. Subjects were 58 American males chosen in 1955 according to age, social class and sociometric status. They were 10, 13, or 16 years of age at Time 1. Half of each age…

This study investigates how closely different interviewers agree when ranking the same applicants, and determines the "correctness" of their rating of applicants. Interview data for applicants to a medical school for two recent consecutive years were examined. For the first year, 573 applicants were interviewed; for the second year, 675 were…

A system of interaction analysis, the Instrument for the Analysis of Science Teaching (IAST, Part 1), and an accompanying sign system (IAST, Part 2) were developed. Originally used to analyze teaching behavior observed in elementary school classrooms where "Science--A Process Approach" was being taught, IAST was later found to be…

Two experiments were conducted to assess the ability of preservice teachers to score moral thought statements using Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Results indicate that teachers, in general, are not able to rate the statements with consistency. (JKS)

Discusses, in the context of library evaluation, the major sources of untrustworthy information and describes what can be done to control them. The emphasis is on assessing the impact of changed operations. (JD)