One theoretical feature that makes item response theory (IRT) models those of choice for many psychometric data analysts is parameter invariance, the equality of item and examinee parameters from different examinee populations or measurement conditions. In this article, using the well-known fact that item and examinee parameters are identical only…

Using longitudinal data from the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), this study investigates entry into intensive or restrictive settings during a 36-month study period. Specifically, this analysis examines entry into treatment foster care, group homes, residential treatment, and inpatient psychiatric care for youth placed…

This activity introduces students to the need for and rationale of hypothesis testing, using a basketball scenario familiar to even the most casual of fans.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to differentiate effects of phonotactic probability, the likelihood of occurrence of a sound sequence, and neighborhood density, the number of words that sound similar to a given word, on adult word learning. A second purpose was to determine what aspect of word learning (viz., triggering learning, formation…

In the nineteenth century many people tried to seek a value for the most famous irrational number, [pi], by means of an experiment known as Buffon's needle, consisting of throwing randomly a needle onto a surface ruled with straight parallel lines. Here we propose to extend this experiment in order to evaluate other irrational numbers, such as…

Purpose: In an attempt to more thoroughly describe aggressive behavior in nursing home residents with dementia, we examined background and proximal factors as guided by the Need-Driven Dementia-Compromised Behavior model. Design and Methods: We used a multivariate cross-sectional survey with repeated measures; participants resided in nine randomly…

An annotated bibliography by Raymond Preiss published in 1986 focused on Language Intensity in relation to persuasion. By contrast, this new 37-item annotated bibliography takes a broader look at probability language to expand upon Preiss's collection of sources, including some earlier and some later sources. Noting that the literature on logical…

The challenge of multiple comparisons is to maximize the power for answering specific research questions, while still maintaining control over the rate of Type I error. Several multiple comparison procedures have been suggested to meet this challenge. The stagewise protected procedure (SPP) of A. J. Klockars and G. R. Hancock tests null hypotheses…

The empirical Bayes modeling approach--latent ability random sampling in the item response theory (IRT) context--to the IRT modeling of psychological tests is described. Under the usual empirical Bayes unidimensional IRT modeling approach, the posterior distribution of examinee ability given test response is approximately normal for a long test.…

Considers a class of estimation procedures for the factor model. The procedures are shown to yield estimates possessing the same asymptotic sampling properties as those from estimation by maximum likelihood or generalized last squares, both special members of the class. General expressions for the derivatives needed for Newton-Raphson…

The author suggests several problems which can be investigated by beginning statistics students. All the problems discussed arise from the game Bingo. (SD)

The purpose of this study was to develop a model for the distribution of authorships--based on the initial hypothesis that the distribution of authorships follows a shifted Waring distribution--and to test the derived model and some other discrete probability models for goodness-of-fit against empirical data. Bibliographic data from 15 abstracting…

The possibility of non-transitivity of preference choices is discussed. One example each from voting and from sports demonstrate some conditions where transitivity does not hold. Suggestions are made for using this type of problem in the classroom. (LS)

This article is the third in a series on the teaching of sets and some of the reasons for doing so. A discussion is presented of the use of set language in teaching concepts from logic, probability and algebra. (JP)