A review of articles in Psychological Assessment reveals that many researchers develop instruments without the benefit of consultation with members of the target population. To the extent that researchers do consult the target population, most fail to bring consultation in early enough to inform the identification and specification of key…

This research examined 2 elements of multiple-choice test construction, balancing the key and optimal number of options. In Experiment 1 the 3 conditions included a balanced key, overrepresentation of a and b responses, and overrepresentation of c and d responses. The results showed that error-patterns were independent of the key, reflecting…

Many school-based research efforts require active parental consent for student participation. Maximizing rates of consent form return and agreement is an important issue, because sample representativeness may be compromised when these rates are low. This article compares two methods for obtaining active parental consent: return of consent forms in…

The present study was designed to identify the impact of drinking problems, impulsivity, and a history of childhood physical abuse on both male-to-female (MFIPV) and female-to-male intimate partner violence (FMIPV). The data were collected in 1995 from a representative national sample of couples living in the contiguous 48 states. Using a…

We compared partial-interval recording (PIR) and momentary time sampling (MTS) estimates against continuous measures of the actual durations of stereotypic behavior in young children with autism or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. Twenty-two videotaped samples of stereotypy were scored using a low-tech duration recording…

Many academic tests (e.g. short-answer and multiple-choice) sample required knowledge with questions scoring 0 or 1 (dichotomous scoring). Few textbooks give useful guidance on the length of test needed to do this reliably. Posey's binomial error model of 1932 provides the best starting point, but allows neither for heterogeneity of question…

This article shows how set covering with item sampling (SCIS) methods can be used in the analysis and preanalysis of linear programming models for test assembly (LPTA). LPTA models can construct tests, fulfilling a set of constraints set by the test assembler. Sometimes, no solution to the LPTA model exists. The model is then said to be…

This study analyzes whether appropriate service delivery, defined as risk level appropriate treatment and supervision services, reduces recidivism. Utilizing a dataset collected for the purpose of evaluating Intensive Supervision Programs, this project analyzes whether high risk offenders are supervised at higher rates than low risk offenders.…

This article describes how the teacher work sample methodology of the Renaissance Partnership for Improving Teacher Quality was implemented within the teacher education program at a small liberal arts college. Resulting program improvements are described, as well as on-going challenges. The adapted teacher work sample prompt and scoring rubric are…

This article reports on a further exploration into the reliability and validity of the shortened form of the Career Development Inventory-Australia (Creed & Patton, 2004), a career maturity measure being developed to meet the need for a shorter and more up-to-date measure to provide data on this career development construct. Data gathered from…

When a simple random sample of size n is employed to establish a classification rule for prediction of a polytomous variable by an independent variable, the best achievable rate of misclassification is higher than the corresponding best achievable rate if the conditional probability distribution is known for the predicted variable given the…

This technical report documents the procedures used to collect and summarize data from the 2005 High School Transcript Study (HSTS 2005). The transcript studies serve as a barometer for changes in high school graduates' course-taking patterns; these patterns provide information about the rigor of high school curricula followed across the nation.…

Public funding of higher education in Kenya has gone through various stages all buffeted by myriad equity challenges. This prompted the government of Kenya (GoK) to create the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), through an Act of parliament in the year 1995. GoK guidelines on loan provision to university students emphasise that deserving cases…

Task-based teaching has a high profile within contemporary ELT, yet there are few analyses of the appropriateness of task-based approaches for school contexts. This paper aims to analyse the suitability of task-based teaching for Hong Kong secondary schools; and to derive some suggestions for the development of a version of task-based approaches…

Survey research has played a major role in American social science. An outgrowth of efforts by the United States Department of Agriculture in the 1930s, the Division of Program Surveys (DPS) played an important role in the development of survey methodology. The DPS was headed by the ambitious and entrepreneurial Rensis Likert, populated by young…