The structure of characterizations of college students by faculty members, particularly observable and significant dimensions or trait patterns, were investigated. Student ratings by faculty members on 80 bi-polar traits, together with Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and high school and college freshman average grades, were obtained.…

Factor analysis was used to summarize the interrelationships between a large and varied collection of measures. Data for 500 third grade students assigned to either an experimental or a comparison condition were obtained. The data covered scores for the first 28 items of the Student Affective Behavior Checklist, (2) 9 nonmathematics subtests of…

A shortened Study Attitudes and Methods Survey (SAMS) was administered to 181 community college students. Four original factors remained in the new version: academic interest--love of learning; study anxiety; manipulation; and alienation toward authority. Academic drive--conformity and study methods were dropped, while facilitative study behaviors…

The author refutes Humphrey's test of the Spearman hypothesis. A fair test requires that Black and White samples not be selected on any g-correlated variable, including socioeconomic status. Humphrey's factor analysis on test-score means of demographic groups, rather than on individuals, inflates g loadings and biases results. (LMO)

In response to the numerous school reform initiatives being implemented, Sternberg proposed a theory of contextual modifiability stating that successful change in a school requires that the school be modifiable. Sternberg developed the School Characteristics Inventory (SCI), a 116-item Likert scale questionnaire, to assess schools'…

The Verbal, Mathematics, Academic, and General self-concept scales of the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQII) (H. Marsh, 1990, 1993) were translated into Chinese and administered to high school students in China (N=493). Item scale correlations and reliability coefficients were good (alphas=0.85, 0.91, 0.87, and 0.86 respectively). Confirmatory…

Kramer's study supporting the construct validity of the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (Firo-B) scale was replicated in this experiment. The significantly different results reported by Froehle may be due to differences in the populations sampled and in their environment. (GDC)

To investigate degree of variation in factor structures produced using different factor analytic techniques, two large data sets were analyzed using four factor analytic approaches (theoretical conventional, theoretical conventional-confirmatory, modified confirmatory, and pure confirmatory). Data sets included third through seventh graders and…

A method is presented for using a restricted latent class model--a binary skills model--to determine skills required by a set of test items. Results from the method's application to reading achievement data for about 63,000 fourth graders indicate that the model offers useful information on test structure and examinee ability. (TJH)

The invariance of a multidimensional, hierarchical self-concept structure for adolescent males and females was studied using 412 male and 420 female 11th and 12th graders. Significant gender differences were found in general, academic, English, and mathematics self-concepts. (TJH)

Chinese secondary school students (n=242) and teachers (n=415) responded to the Chinese version of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). Comparison of the scales derived from the four isolated factors with the original WCQ suggests that they are useful in studying a Chinese population. (SLD)

Evaluated the factor structure, reliability, and validity of a French version of the Self-Perception Profile for Children. The profile was administered to elementary school students in Quebec, and results were correlated with teacher and peer assessments. Results supported a five-factor solution and indicated that each factor was reliably…

Reported stressors and patterns of coping strategies of 484 high school students were studied through their responses on the COPE Inventory and other measures. Results support the measure's internal consistency but suggest significant gender differences and four factors among the subscales. Implications for the instruments' use with adolescents…

The reliability and validity of the Self-Esteem Inventory developed by S. C. Coopersmith (1975) were evaluated via item-total correlation, discriminant analysis, factor analysis, and analysis of variance of data for 352 Australian adults. The instrument had high internal consistency and discriminated well between subjects with high and low…

The Sports Behavior Checklist (SBC) is subjected to a principal components analysis, and subscales are correlated with subscales of the Conners' Revised Parent Form and the Social Skills Rating System. Both of these analyses are conducted to determine the construct validity of the instrument. A subsample of lower socioeconomic status individuals…