Covert checks of observational methodology reveal declines in reliability of observations. This appears to be particularly true when complex codes are used to track social interaction. The present study was undertaken to see whether reliability could be maintained through a combination of technological advancements and the development of improved…

Three goals must be met in order for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to improve the quality and utility of its data collection: (1) the choice of what to collect must be driven by the questions of interest to decisionmakers and the public; (2) procedures must insure validity and reliability of the data; and (3) the data must be…

In recent years educators have been utilizing judgmental methods, such as the ones advocated by Ebel and Angoff, to set minimum competency standards on test items. This study was designed to investigate the reliability and validity of these two procedures in setting minimum levels of performance on 175 vocational evaluator competency statements.…

The stability of selected indices for detecting differential item performance (item bias), from one randomly equivalent sample to another, is addressed. Some recent research has criticized these indices as too unreliable for utility in measuring bias in achievement test items. Using data from a national testing of the ACT Assessment, however, this…

This report on interstate child support cases focuses on child support enforcement problems that occur when absent parents live in states other than those in which their children reside. Findings indicate that Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and state caseload and collection data are of questionable reliability and provide limited…

Research on student evaluation of college teachers' performance is briefly summarized. Lawrence M. Aleamoni offers four arguments in favor of student ratings: (1) students are the main source of information about the educational environment; (2) students are the most logical evaluators of student satisfaction and effectiveness of course elements;…

The problem of this study was to develop, validate, and establish the reliability of a computer simulation which would: (1) distinguish between concrete and formal thinking patterns related to control of variables; (2) be easily administered to a class of secondary school age subjects; (3) preserve the interactive aspects of the Piagetian task;…

The influence of atmospheric conditions and the day of the week on school children's behavior was investigated by undergraduates. The college students were told either that their participation in the research was compulsory and would be graded, or that their participation was voluntary and ungraded. Fifty teachers observed their pupils' behavior…

Focusing on the use of the interview in the Procedures for Adopting Educational Innovations (PAEI) Project, this paper reports on the appropriateness of the interview as a research tool in change research and the types of information appropriate to its use. In this project, interviews are used to identify what an individual is doing, has done, or…

The trend towards using screening programs to facilitate early identification of developmental or learning problems has accentuated the need to establish reliable and valid screening procedures. Researchers in this area must recognize that the dichotomous decision-making function of screening (i.e., to refer or not refer a child for further…

It is sometimes desirable to obtain an estimated total-test score for an individual who was administered only a subset of the items in a total test. The present study compared six methods, two of which utilize the content structure of items, to estimate total-test scores using 450 students in grades 3-5 and 60 items of the ll0-item Stanford Mental…

A study was conducted for the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island to analyze coverage of the accident by ten news organizations: two wire services, three commercial television networks, and five daily newspapers. Copies of all stories and transcripts of news programs during the first week of the accident were examined from…

Observation statements are characterized as being: (1) dependent upon the human senses or other sensory apparatus; (2) specific descriptions' (3) made by speakers who offer as the primary support for their statements the events or things which stimulated their making the statements; (4) used as the foundations for knowledge; and (5) easily…

THIS PAPER DESCRIBES A 60-ITEM GROUP ADMINISTERED PAPER-PENCIL ATTITUDE INVENTORY COMPRISED OF TWO SCALES, ONE ASSESSING THE CHILD'S BELIEFS ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS (SCALE I) AND THE OTHER ASSESSING THE CHILD'S SELF-CONFIDENCE IN UNDERTAKING PROBELM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES (SCALE II). DATA FROM 325 FIFTH-GRADE AND SIXTH-GRADE…