We address measurement error bias in propensity score (PS) analysis due to covariates that are latent variables. In the setting where latent covariate X is measured via multiple error-prone items W, PS analysis using several proxies for X--the W items themselves, a summary score (mean/sum of the items), or the conventional factor score (i.e.,…

Spearman's correction for attenuation (measurement error) corrects a correlation coefficient for measurement errors in either-or-both of two variables, and follows from the assumptions of classical test theory. Spearman's equation removes all measurement error from a correlation coefficient which translates into "increasing the reliability of…

Power analysis is a fundamental prerequisite for conducting scientific research. Without power analysis the researcher has no way of knowing whether the sample size is large enough to detect the effect he or she is looking for. This paper demonstrates how psychometric factors such as measurement error and equating error affect the power of…

Quantitative research on sexual minority youths (SMYs) has likely contributed to misperceptions about the risk and deviance of this population. In part because it often relies on self-reported data from population-based self-administered questionnaires, this research is susceptible to misclassification bias whereby youths who are not SMYs are…

In this article, an overview is given of four methods to perform factor score regression (FSR), namely regression FSR, Bartlett FSR, the bias avoiding method of Skrondal and Laake, and the bias correcting method of Croon. The bias correcting method is extended to include a reliable standard error. The four methods are compared with each other and…

In education research, small samples are common because of financial limitations, logistical challenges, or exploratory studies. With small samples, statistical principles on which researchers rely do not hold, leading to trust issues with model estimates and possible replication issues when scaling up. Researchers are generally aware of such…

We investigated methods of including covariates in two-level models for cluster randomized trials to increase power to detect the treatment effect. We compared multilevel models that included either an observed cluster mean or a latent cluster mean as a covariate, as well as the effect of including Level 1 deviation scores in the model. A Monte…

With respect to the often-present covariance between error terms of correlated variables, D. W. Zimmerman and R. H. Williams's (1977) adjusted correction for attenuation estimates the strength of the pairwise correlation between true scores without assuming independence of error scores. This article focuses on the derivation and analysis of…

Among the varied analytical challenges institutional researchers face, examining faculty pay may be one of the most vexing. Although the literature on faculty compensation analysis dates back to the 1970s (Loeb and Ferber, 1971; Gordon, Morton, and Braden, 1974; Scott, 1977; Braskamp and Johnson, 1978; McLaughlin, Smart, and Montgomery, 1978),…