The relationship between selected subtests from the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and corresponding subtests administered as computerized adaptive tests (CAT) was investigated using a sample of Marine recruits. Results showed that the CAT subtest scores correlated as well with initial ASVAB scores as did ASVAB retest scores,…

In the present study, the Vocational Preference Inventory scores for a group of black students and white students were factor analyzed and the black structure was rotated to correspond to the white structure. The correspondence between the variables for black and white students was found to be very similar. (Author)

Comrey Personality Scales (1970) were administered to 179 New Zealand university and teachers' college students. Factor analysis of the data confirmed that the basic structure of the scales was almost identical with that found in the American normative sample. (Author/RC)

This report concerns an attempt by an invited outside agent to clarify--as opposed to modify--the attitudes and opinions of teachers in a high school with regard to issues in education and drug use. (Author)

The factor-referenced kits developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) are assessed. With support from the National Science Foundation, the researcher surveyed the total range of research done over the past 65 years on the identification of cognitive abilities, principally through factor analysis. From a corpus of an estimated 2,000 data…

Historically, most researchers conducting factor analysis have used exploratory methods. However, more recently, confirmatory factor analytic methods have been developed that can directly test theory either during factor rotation using "best fit" rotation methods or during factor extraction, as with the LISREL computer programs developed…

The Bootstrap method, a computer-intensive statistical method of estimation, is illustrated using a simple and efficient Statistical Analysis System (SAS) routine. The utility of the method for generating unknown parameters, including standard errors for simple statistics, regression coefficients, discriminant function coefficients, and factor…

Factors affecting a lower-bound estimate of internal consistency reliability, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, are explored. Theoretically, coefficient alpha is an estimate of the correlation between two tests drawn at random from a pool of items like the items in the test under consideration. As a practical matter, coefficient alpha can be an index…

Two studies explored mothers' beliefs about the characteristics of effective mothers of preschool-aged children. Study One consisted of interviews of 50 mothers which were designed to generate a pool of characteristics associated with good mothering. Of the 33 characteristics generated, those most frequently mentioned were being loving, patient,…

The term "ipsative" refers to measurement based on intra-individual comparisons. The research literature in the social sciences contains many cautions about using ipsative data in multivariate analysis. The purpose of this paper is to identify the problems associated with the multivariate and regression analyses of ipsative data and to…

This paper reviews recent work in factor analysis of categorical variables. Emphasis is on the generalized least squares solution. A section on maximum likelihood solution focuses on extensions of the classical model, especially the normal case. Many of the recent developments have taken place within this context, and it provides a unified…

This study describes one type of analysis used to gather data on attitudinal climate in elementary schools. The Quality of School Life Scale (QSL) was administered to 142 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students in one southwestern elementary school. Responses to the QSL were analyzed using statistical and nonstatistical techniques. The data results are…

This study is a preliminary attempt to characterize the development of students' conceptions of education in a comprehensive fashion. The participants were recruited from a middle class suburban school district in Michigan. Seventy students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 were interviewed about several issues related to each of the following: (1) the…

This paper provides an up-to-date review of the relationship between item response theory (IRT) and (nonlinear) common factor theory and draws out of this relationship some implications for current and future research in IRT. Nonlinear common factor analysis yields a natural embodiment of the weak principle of local independence in appropriate…

Data from three subtests (language, mathematics, and social) scales of the Head Start Measures Battery (HSMB) were analyzed using principal components analysis (PCA) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS). The HSMB measures preschool development in language, mathematics, nature and science, perception, reading, and social development. The…