A simulation study is presented to evaluate and compare three methods to estimate the variance of the estimates of the parameters d and "C" of the signal detection theory (SDT). Several methods have been proposed to calculate the variance of their estimators, "d'" and "c." Those methods have been mostly assessed by…

This article provides a brief introduction to the Rasch model. Motivation for using Rasch analyses is provided. Important Rasch model concepts and key aspects of result interpretation are introduced, with major points reinforced using a simulation demonstration. Concrete guidelines are provided regarding sample size and the evaluation of items.

Questionnaires that include items eliciting count responses are becoming increasingly common in psychology. This study proposes methodological techniques to overcome some of the challenges associated with analyzing multivariate item response data that exhibit zero inflation, maximum inflation, and heaping at preferred digits. The modeling…

Designs that facilitate inferences concerning both the total and indirect effects of a treatment potentially offer a more holistic description of interventions because they can complement "what works" questions with the comprehensive study of the causal connections implied by substantive theories. Mapping the sensitivity of designs to…

High dimensional multivariate data, where the number of variables approaches or exceeds the sample size, is an increasingly common occurrence for social scientists. Several tools exist for dealing with such data in the context of univariate regression, including regularization methods such as Lasso, Elastic net, Ridge Regression, as well as the…

Adoption of new instructional standards in science demands high-quality information about classroom practice. Teacher portfolios can be used to assess instructional practice and support teacher self-reflection anchored in authentic evidence from classrooms. This study investigated a new type of electronic portfolio tool that allows efficient…

This paper aims to present a critical analysis of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check (PSC), with special focus on the relationship between the UK Department for Education's policy-making and the evidence considered in the process of developing and evaluating the PSC. The reports from the in-house Standards and Testing Agency and from commissioned…

Evaluations of measurement invariance provide essential construct validity evidence--a prerequisite for seeking meaning in psychological and educational research and ensuring fair testing procedures in high-stakes settings. However, the quality of such evidence is partly dependent on the validity of the resulting statistical conclusions. Type I or…

Cluster randomized trials involving participants nested within intact treatment and control groups are commonly performed in various educational, psychological, and biomedical studies. However, recruiting and retaining intact groups present various practical, financial, and logistical challenges to evaluators and often, cluster randomized trials…

The "Motor-Free Visual Perception Test-fourth edition" (MVPT-4) is a revised version of the "Motor-Free Visual Perception Test-third edition." The MVPT-4 is used to assess the visual-perceptual ability of individuals aged 4.0 through 80+ years via a series of visual-perceptual tasks that do not require a motor response. Test…

The present study uses the intuitive rules theory as a framework to examine whether some of the difficulties in dealing with errors and uncertainties observed among students in the university physics laboratory can stem from their use of intuitive rules. The study also examines the relationship between the use of intuitive rules and laboratory…

School-average achievement is often reported to have positive effects on individual achievement (peer spillover effect). However, it is well established that school-average achievement has negative effects on academic self-concept (big-fish-little-pond effect [BFLPE]) and that academic self-concept and achievement are positively correlated and…

Recently Watkins, Bargagliotti, and Franklin (2014) discovered that simulations of the sampling distribution of the mean can mislead students into concluding that the mean of the sampling distribution of the mean depends on sample size. This potential error arises from the fact that the mean of a simulated sampling distribution will tend to be…

Building on previous works by Lord and Ogasawara for dichotomous items, this article proposes an approach to derive the asymptotic standard errors of item response theory true score equating involving polytomous items, for equivalent and nonequivalent groups of examinees. This analytical approach could be used in place of empirical methods like…

In longitudinal studies, measurement invariance is required to conduct substantive comparisons over time or across groups. In this study, we examined measurement invariance on a recently developed instrument capturing student preferences for seven instructional strategies related to science learning and career interest. We have labeled these seven…