A more familiar and efficient method for estimating the parameters of Cason and Cason's model was examined. Using a two-step analysis based on linear regression, rather than the direct search interative procedure, gave about equally good results while providing a 33 to 1 computer processing time advantage, across 14 cohorts of junior medical…

Political communication researchers recently have emphasized conditional relationships as crucial to specifying and understanding the effects of the mass media. In many cases, however, researchers will not predict which variables will modify the form or existence of media effects. They therefore will not include measures of the conditional…

Methods for examining the viability of assumptions underlying generalized linear models are considered. By appealing to the likelihood, a natural generalization of the raw residual plot for normal theory models is derived and is applied to investigating potential misspecification of the linear predictor. A smooth version of the plot is also…

Enrollments of students over 18 years old in part-time education and training programs were studied in 1981, with special emphasis on adults studying the humanities. Information is provided on: the characteristics of adult students enrolled in humanities courses, the subjects that they studied, reasons adult students studied the humanities, the…

An evaluation identified the separate effects that the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare's Employment and Training Choices Program (ET) and the healthy Massachusetts private economy have had on welfare caseloads. The analysis was limited to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) portion of the ET program. Regression equations…

A statistical model is presented for analyzing the results of group conversation tests in English, developed in a Finnish university study from 1977 to 1981. The model is illustrated with the findings from the study. In this study, estimates of percentile curves for the number of errors are of greater interest than the mean regression line. It was…

This paper considers the feasibility of incorporating research results from cognitive science into the modeling of performance on psychometric tests and the construction of test items. The paper focuses on the feasibility of modeling performance on a three-dimensional rotation task within the context of Item Response Theory (IRT). To test the…

Standard procedures for estimating item parameters in Item Response Theory models make no use of auxiliary information about test items, such as their format or content, or the skills they require for solution. This paper describes a framework for exploiting this information, thereby enhancing the precision and stability of item parameter…

The purpose of this study was to compare the results of an analysis of covariance design to a method developed by the authors called within-class regression. Application of this statistical method can be to any quasiexperimental design with a large number of groups. A test of statistical significance to use with the within-class regression…

The main concern is a longstanding one in classroom instruction--the determinants of effective team performance. The paper explicitly examines the effect of teacher-controlled factors on the use and functioning of student teams. From a sample of 500 undergraduate students, data are obtained on aptitude, diversity, instability, motivation,…

States that the Joint Council's "Framework" is deficient in the area of methodology because the theories and conclusions of the discipline are based mostly on private musings and introspection which is qualified through post-hoc regression analysis. Illustrates the problem with an example from unemployment, and concludes with a section…

The effectiveness of a strategy for improving performance on multiple-choice items for examinees was assessed using an aptitude-treatment interaction model. Results showed that for low-anxious examinees, generation of an answer before selecting a response led to higher performance, but not for highly anxious examinees. (Author/JAZ)

Three versions of a probabilistic model adapted from the theory of information retrieval--a binary version, a version using the full value of the data, and a version using principal components--were tested and applied to data available from application forms to predict graduate school performance of library school students. (EM)

A three-year follow-up of a national sample of 419 youth employment training program participants and 356 nonparticipants of comparable background showed that participants obtained more months of employment and had greater job satisfaction. Program effectiveness was greater for minority than nonminority youth and greater for females than male.…

The hypothesis is examined that, in British Columbia, when variables measuring socioeconomic status, district resources, and basic district characteristics are controlled, no significant differences between aggregated student achievement will remain. Results suggest that districts are significant sources of achievement variation and that…