The purposes of this paper are to identify common errors made by researchers when dealing with reliability coefficients and to outline best practices for reporting and interpreting reliability coefficients. Common errors that researchers make are: (1) stating that the instruments are reliable; (2) incorrectly interpreting correlation coefficients;…

This article provides a framework for reporting internal consistency reliability in counseling research and other related social science fields, including guidelines relative to score reliability coefficients and associated confidence intervals for both full sample and subgroups. Follow-up techniques for investigating low score reliability are…

Gives an overview of three of the myths that F. N. Kerlinger (1959, 1960) identified as pervading educational research. Explores the myths of methods, practicality, and statistics, and analyzes the degree to which they have been overcome or still exist. (SLD)

This paper proposes a new typology for understanding common research errors that expands on the four types of error commonly discussed in the research literature. Examples are presented to illustrate Type I and Type II errors, errors related to the interpretation of statistically significant and nonsignificant results respectively, with attention…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth critical analysis of the use and misuse of correlation coefficients. Various analytical and interpretational misconceptions are reviewed, beginning with the egregious assumption that correlational statistics may be useful in inferring causality. Additional misconceptions, stemming from…

That the jackknifing technique is superior to traditional techniques for assessing the external validity of statistical results of discriminant analysis is defended. Traditional approaches assessed include: (1) the empirical method, in which the discriminant function coefficients (DFCs) obtained in a given analysis are applied to predict group…

Both common factor analysis and components analysis are useful techniques for reducing the number of variables in a data set or for identifying underlying covariance structures that exist among a set of variables. Although researchers have for some years debated the appropriateness of selecting one of these methods over the other, components…

Considers reviews of L. Daniels's article on editorial policy regarding statistical significance testing and concludes that the controversy is not over, although the gradual movement toward requiring additional information in the reporting of statistical results is viewed as a positive trend. (SLD)

In 1994, the journal "Educational and Psychological Measurement" (EPM) instituted an editorial policy requiring authors to use technically appropriate language and methodological practices in their discussions of validity and reliability. To determine if this policy has had any effect on current publications, 150 validity and reliability…

Editorial board members of "Educational and Psychological Measurement" were asked to list up to five publications each, written since roughly 1950, that they thought were seminal to shaping the measurement field. This bibliography lists 59 of their selections as a "hit parade" of measurement readings. (SLD)

Fred N. Kerlinger has been hailed as having contributed to the transformation of the way that behavioral scientists and educators read research reports, design and execute research, and draw conclusions about research. In 1960 he introduced the notion that educational research is fraught with mythology. Three of the research myths that he…

A generation ago, Fred N. Kerlinger proposed that there were a number of myths that pervaded educational research. An overview of three specific myths is presented, followed by a discussion of the degree to which these myths have been overcome or still exist in educational research. The first of these myths, the "methods" myth, is…

Historically, most researchers conducting factor analysis have used exploratory methods. However, more recently, confirmatory factor analytic methods have been developed that can directly test theory either during factor rotation using "best fit" rotation methods or during factor extraction, as with the LISREL computer programs developed…

Offers a framework for remedying some of the problems associated with the use of statistical significance tests through modifying journal editorial policies. Reviews examples from some journals that have established guidelines for reporting results of statistical significance tests. (SLD)

The purpose of the present study was to determine how two different data collection techniques would affect the Q-factors derived from several factor analytic procedures. Faculty members (N=146) from seven middle schools responded to 61 items taken from an instrument designed to measure aspects of an idealized middle school culture; the instrument…