The Student Ideal form of the Adult Classroom Environment scale was administered to 449 adult students and a factor analysis performed. All but 15 of 49 items loaded clearly with a 5-factor orthogonal solution, partially supporting scale's 7 dimensions. A revised scale was administered to 287 students, and another factor analysis largely confirmed…

Situations for which the researcher should use component analysis versus common factor analysis are discussed. Topics addressed include key algebraic similarities and differences, theoretical and practical issues, the factor indeterminacy issue, latent versus manifest variables, and differences between exploratory and confirmatory analysis…

A sample of 52 occupational therapists and 4 assistants rated 21 daily living skills in terms of their importance to the functioning of chronic mentally ill persons. Factor analysis showed no relationship between therapists' characteristics and perceived value of skills. Clustering of skills may suggest different levels or categories that may…

The Achievement Anxiety Test's dimensionality was assessed using data from 378 university students. Analyses suggest the viability of a unidimensional construct, whose ability to provide extreme subject groups showing differences on other characteristics of academic achievement was assessed. Such a scale has potential for separating…

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses investigated the dimensionality of a modification of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The sample of 147 fifth-year college students in an elementary teacher training program demonstrated the multidimensional construct validity of the new instrument--the College Student Survey--within the theoretical…

Statistics suggest that the states with the highest infant mortality rates also have the worst prenatal and health care, resulting in a high proportion of children born at risk of learning disabilities that could later result in low Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) performance. (FMW)

Eight direct scoring indices of written expression were intercorrelated, factor analyzed, and used to predict holistic judgments of writing samples of 172 middle-school students in compensatory/specialized education programs. Strongest predictors of holistic ratings were percentage of words correctly sequenced and percentage of correctly spelled…

Data from a study involving 43 grade 3-6 teachers suggests that teachers are able to differentiate effort and achievement when assigning ratings, and experiential relevance and familiarity are important factors in any grading system that teachers can successfully use. (IAH)

Responding to Field's criticism of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS), Guglielmino cites evidence supporting the scale's validity and reliability, Long notes gaps in Field's literature review, and McCune critiques Field's approach to factor analysis in testing the scale. (SK)

Addresses common pitfalls in homogeneous scale construction in clinical and social psychology. Offers suggestions about item writing, answer scale formats, data analysis procedures, and overall scale development strategy. Emphasizes effective use of factor-analytic methods to select items for scales and to determine its proper location in…

To examine the magnitude/nature of short-term fluctuations in work values, seven college students completed the Work Values Inventory daily for approximately 100 days. Results of factor analysis cast doubt on the hypothesis that work values behave exclusively as trait-like dimensions and recommend better use of idiographic approaches. (TJH)

Summarizes results of a study designed to identify organizational climate factors in Israel's 29 Bedouin Arab elementary schools and to explore their relation to certain teacher and school-level variables, including sex, educational level, tenure, teachers' origin, school type, and school size. The most important organizational climate factor was…

Discusses the nature, power, and limitations of four multivariate techniques: factor analysis, multiple analysis of variance, multiple regression, and multiple discriminant analysis. Shows how decision trees assist in interpreting results. (SK)

Presents the results of multiple regression analysis, test-retest analysis, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis of the Computer Attitude Scale in order to assess the instrument's predictive ability, construct validity, and reliability. Findings indicate acceptable characteristics, including stability…

Used a teacher rating scale and coded videotaped observations to examine 30 toddlers' emerging social competence in an unfamiliar peer group during a 4-week summer camp. Found a correlation between the prosocial component of the teacher rating scale and observations of children's interactive-functional play and overall rate of interactive play…