Presents two viewpoints about the use and interpretability of beta weights in educational research: (1) that beta weights should be interpreted as a logical index of the importance of individual predictors within the context of the entire set of predictors; and (2) that interpretation requires certain cautions and conditions. (SV)

Tested situational factors as predictors of types of individual aggressive incidents in male prison population. Categorized incidents of violence by whether occurrence of infraction involved aggressive behavior directed at staff, another inmate, self, or property. Found that situational variables did serve as predictors of these categories of…

Investigated relationship between level of socialization for parenthood among primiparous married couples (n=454) and indicators of personal, family, and infant well-being. Results indicated when social support, life events, childhood experience, health, education, and income were held constant the level of socialization predicted personal and…

To predict suicide, explicit causal models of suicide outcome are needed in which predictors are temporally ordered and then tested statistically. Because suicide is a dichotomous, nominal scale outcome, only certain statistics for prediction are appropriate. Logistic regression, which utilizes the likelihood ratio test of statistical inference,…

Characterizations of local homogeneity and the homogeneous monotone item response theory (IRT) model are provided. The characterization theorem states that the joint condition of experimental independence and pairwise nonnegative association in every nonnegligible subpopulation is necessary and sufficient for the homogenous monotone IRT model.…

To examine the basis of familiar associations with poor language achievement, 62 twin pairs and 3 triplet sets were studied in which at least one member presented poor oral-language status in the absence of other impairments. The language status of monozygotic pairs was highly similar. (Author/CR)

Discusses determining sample size for estimation of the squared multiple correlation coefficient and presents regression equations that permit determination of the sample size for estimating this parameter for up to 20 predictor variables. (SLD)

Two bootstrap tests are proposed to test the independence hypothesis in a two-way cross table. Monte Carlo studies are used to compare the traditional asymptotic test with these bootstrap methods, and the bootstrap methods are found superior in two ways: control of Type I error and statistical power. (SLD)

Explores which factors predicted changes in knowledge and beliefs among middle school students (N=1450) after exposure to a pregnancy prevention program. Results show that the single most important predictor of improvement in knowledge and beliefs about pregnancy prevention was the program itself, not background variables. (MKA)

Examined teaching assistants' perceptions of various instructional issues and explored whether their perceptions were affected by nationality, gender, and academic discipline. Found significant predictors of teaching assistants' instructional roles, teaching style, instructional methods, communication strategies, and potential problems. (EV)

Examined inhibitory control as a quality of temperament that contributes to internalization in toddler and preschool children. Children's internalization was observed while they were alone with prohibited objects, and in scenarios that occasioned violating standards of conduct, and were assessed using maternal reports. Found that inhibitory…

College students (n=217) completed the Career Decision Scale, Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Self-Consciousness Scale, and Fear of Commitment Scale. Fear was a strong predictor of career indecision. Negative predictors were self-oriented perfectionism and social anxiety; positive predictors were socially prescribed perfectionism and private…

Results of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey completed by 320 black college freshmen showed that males had lower educational aspirations; higher educational aspirations were predicted by lower estimate of social competence, higher value on career autonomy, and lack of financial resources. Higher career aspirations were…

At 2 sites information was collected from 168 workers, and their 3-letter Holland work environment codes were crossed with 3 measures of person-environment congruence. All three measures were strongly intercorrelated. The way a job was coded had a significant effect on the calculation of congruence. (SK)

The validity and accuracy of self-reported Graduate Record Examination standardized test scores were examined for a national sample of 1,408 college students. Overall, high correlations between actual and student-reported scores and high accuracy rates were found. Differences in accuracy rates were associated with low student performance on the…