The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) has been planned as an ongoing program of assessment. The first cycle of the assessment has involved two "rounds." The first round, which is covered by this report, took place over the period of January 2008-October 2013. The main features of the first cycle of…

This report is structured so as to provide technical detail about each aspect of International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). The overview is followed by a series of chapters that provide detail about different aspects of ICCS. Chapters, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are concerned with the instruments. Chapter 2 provides information about the…

Describes the use of multidimensional scaling (MDS), emphasizing applications in counseling and vocational psychology. Includes an example of one standard nonmetric scaling method. Addresses conceptual and practical considerations associated with the use of MDS. (Author/KS)

Discusses design, development, and evaluation of scales used in counseling psychology research. Describes methods of scale construction including the Thurstone, Q-sort, rank-order methods, Likert, semantic differential, Guttman, Rasch, and external criterion methods. Presents ways of evaluating newly developed scales. Discusses measurement versus…

Examines the consequences of regarding Deviation Quotients (DQs) as estimates of Full Scale IQs. Offers a new formula and shows the increase in error to be negligible for short forms with typical validities, which supports linear scaling as an acceptable alternative to linear regression. (LLL)

Tests two theories suggesting that declining scores on scales of attitude towards religion during secondary schooling may be an artifact either of the specific measuring instruments or of a more general adolescent discontent. Concludes that this decline in scores is due to actual attitudes towards religion. Includes an extensive bibliography.…

This article provides an investigation of cluster validation indices that relates 4 of the indices to the L. Hubert and P. Arable (1985) adjusted Rand index--the cluster validation measure of choice (G. W. Milligan & M. C. Cooper, 1986). It is shown how these other indices can be "roughly" transformed into the same scale as the adjusted Rand…

This document defines suffering as the affective aspect of the pain experience while the cognitive aspect of the pain experience is the sensation of pain. It considers personal suffering, which mean's one's own suffering, and not the suffering of other people. It notes that a particular interpretation of suffering may be formulated in any number…

The Draw-a-Design and Draw-a-Child, two subtests of the McCarthy Scales, are the best-normed drawing tests for children aged two and a half to eight and a half years but have no age-corrected deviation scaled scores available for interpretation. Scaled scores for use in interpretation are presented for these tests. (Author/NRB)

Discusses the use of remote sensing techniques to obtain locational, estimated, and mapped information at the scales varying from individual fields and farms, to entire continents and the world. (AEM)

A brief overview of item response theory is provided, and a 186-item bibliography of books and articles on the subject dating from 1953 to June 1989 is presented. The overview includes a definition of the theory, a discussion of its development and application, and comparisons with classical test theory. All publications in the bibliography were…