Test construction is not the strictly logical process that we might wish it to be. This is particularly true in a large on-going project such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Most of the really deep questions can only be answered by the exercise of well-informed human judgment. Criterion-referenced testing is still a term…

Empirical results are presented as regards the implementation of a latent-trait psychometric model by means of conditional maximum likelihood estimation. Items are scored polychotomously into varying numbers of nominal categories and the test and item characteristic curves and information functions are examined. It is concluded that scoring items…

Through utilization of effective sampling procedures, libraries may obtain substantial savings in terms of data collection costs. A theoretical statistical sampling model is presented and two types of random sampling techniques are empirically compared as to their effectiveness in estimating a library usage parameter. Implications are drawn for…

A computer-based Statistical Program to Assist in Teaching Statistics (SPATS) has been successfully developed to aid the teaching of statistics to undergraduates with business and economics majors. SPATS simplifies the problem of experimentally creating and analyzing a variety of populations and of selecting and analyzing different kinds of random…

In most behavioral science research very little attention is ever given to the probability of committing a Type II error, i.e., the probability of failing to reject a false null hypothesis. Recent publications by Cohen have led to insight on this topic for the fixed-effects analysis of variance and covariance. This paper provides social scientists…

The equivalency of item sampling and student sampling of attitudes of college students was investigated. A factor analysis of student-sampled data collected during Spring 1968, was compared with a factor analysis of item-sampled data collected each quarter from Fall 1968, through Winter 1970, at Mankato State College, using the Campus Environment…

The relative power of three possible experimental designs under the condition that data is to be analyzed by nonparametric techniques; the comparison of the power of each nonparametric technique to its parametric analogue; and the comparison of relative powers using nonparametric and parametric techniques are discussed. The three nonparametric…

Five-hundred dichotomously scored response patterns were generated with sequentially independent (SI) items and 500 with dependent (SD) items for each of thirty-six combinations of sampling parameters (i.e., three test lengths, three sample sizes, and four item difficulty distributions). KR-20, KR-21, and Split-Half (S-H) reliabilities were…

The feasibility and effectiveness of a Bayesian method for estimating regressions in m groups is studied by application of the method to data from the Basic Research Service of The American College Testing Program. Evidence supports the belief that in many testing applications the collateral information obtained from each subset of m-1 colleges…

The accuracy of estimating test means for groups of twelfth-grade students by the item-sampling technique was examined. The subjects were from 35 twelfth-grade schools participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Mathematical Abilities. Half of the students in each school were assigned to a treatment condition where they took a complete…

A numerical procedure is outlined for obtaining an interval estimate of a parameter in an empirical Bayes estimation problem. The case where each observed value x has a binomial distribution, conditional on a parameter zeta, is the only case considered. For each x, the parameter estimated is the expected value of zeta given x. The main purpose is…

The technique of analysis of covariance is examined for its relevance to educational and psychological investigations. A study of the arithmetic procedures, history, and statistical properties shows that, though the concepts are relevant to many data collection designs, the customary calculations are often inappropriate. Some suggestions are made…

The intent of this experimental program is to test the impact of an assistance system on issues such as work incentive, cost of benefits, administrative costs, and other corollary issues. The structure is to provide assistance that increases as earned income declines, and decreases as earned income increases. Unlike the President's Welfare Reform…

This survey analyzed the attitudes and educational and occupational patterns of 1969 high school graduates from vocational programs. Over half of a stratified random sample of nearly 3,000 graduates responded to the questionnaire after four followups. Summary data were grouped into five categories: (1) geographic distribution, (2) general…

The procedure of item sampling was employed to reduce the time expenditure of participants when responding to a questionnaire concerned with the implementation of an innovative elementary school project. Approximately 50 student teachers and 42 regular classroom teachers responded to one of two forms of the questionnaire. There was a total of 103…