It is common practice for assessment programs to organize qualifying sessions during which the raters (often known as "markers" or "judges") demonstrate their consistency before operational rating commences. Because of the high-stakes nature of many rating activities, the research community tends to continuously explore new…

The residuals obtained from fitting a structural equation model are crucial ingredients in obtaining chi-square goodness-of-fit statistics for the model. The authors present a didactic discussion of the residuals, obtaining a geometrical interpretation by recognizing the residuals as the result of oblique projections. This sheds light on the…

In this paper, we show that for some structural equation models (SEM), the classical chi-square goodness-of-fit test is unable to detect the presence of nonlinear terms in the model. As an example, we consider a regression model with latent variables and interactions terms. Not only the model test has zero power against that type of…

Log linear models are proposed for the analysis of structural relations among multidimensional developmental contingency tables. Model of quasi-independence are suggested for testing specific hypothesized patterns of development. Transitions in developmental categorizations are described by Markov models applied to successive contingency tables. A…

A special case of Bloxom's version of Tucker's three mode factor analysis model is developed statistically. A goodness of fit test and an empirical example are presented. (Author/JKS)

Ideal point discriminant analysis (IPDA) is proposed for the analysis of contingency tables of cross-classified data. Several data sets illustrate IPDA, which combines log-linear and dual scaling models to provide a spatial representation of row and column categories and allow statistical evaluation of various structural hypotheses about…

An alternating least squares algorithm is offered for fitting the DEcomposition into DIrectional COMponents (DEDICOM) model for representing asymmetric relations among a set of objects via a set of coordinates for the objects on a limited number of dimensions. An algorithm is presented for fitting the IDIOSCAL model in the least squares sense.…

Modeling data behavior is differentiated from statistically determining a best-fit regression function, as it allows students to develop functions that hold certain attributes in respect to a set of data. Three techniques for developing polynomial models are demonstrated that afford students optional methods for determining appropriate polynomial…

The purpose of this study was to develop a model for the distribution of authorships--based on the initial hypothesis that the distribution of authorships follows a shifted Waring distribution--and to test the derived model and some other discrete probability models for goodness-of-fit against empirical data. Bibliographic data from 15 abstracting…

The scientific implications and practical applications of the Stein estimator approach for estimating true scores from observed scores are of potentially great importance. The conceptual complexity is not much greater than that required for more conventional regression models. The empirical Bayesian aspect allows the examiner to incorporate…

The research on covariance structure analysis is reviewed, and various restrictions on the parameter matrices of the general model are delineated. Models employing two particular restrictions (where the matrix of weights is completely specified and is either scaled--by some unknown but estimable matrix of scaling weights--or unscaled) are…