This paper describes how a naturalistic inquirer can demonstrate rigor, or trustworthiness, and how an auditor might assess it. Looking at both inquiry products and processes, Part 1 of this paper describes how an audit may assess whether an inquiry's findings and conclusions are grounded in the raw data, and whether appropriate conventions were…

Both the attenuation paradox of traditional test theory and the assumption of local independence in person-item response theory have caused problems in interpretation. This paper demonstrates that the two are related concepts, and, through this demonstration, both are clarified. It is demonstrated that the breakdown of local independence leads to…

An accepted criterion for gauging the fairness of examinees' scores, derived from judge-awarded ratings, has been the size of the correlation between the judges and the inter-rater reliability. Various means of achieving inter-rater reliability were reviewed, and a model to measure inter-rater reliability is forwarded. Both theoretical and…

The primary purpose of this study was to provide evidence for or against the construct validity of the Career Skills Assessment Program (CSAP) instrument. A secondary purpose was to present a systematic procedure for carrying out internal construct validity studies in any testing instrument. Construct validation using confirmatory factor analysis…

This paper discusses four criteria for selecting covariates when utilizing the analysis of covariance in quasiexperimental research: completeness, causation, independence, and fallibility. Completeness is the extent to which the known or suspected sources of bias are accounted for by covariates used in an experiment. Causation is the requirement…

Noting that public opinion polls are here to stay, this report focuses on the difficulties of good poll reporting in newspapers that use (1) syndicated polls; (2) private polls from political candidates, or (3) their own polls, and argues that newspapers must learn how to report them well. The first section of the report traces the history of…

Research indicating that different cut-off points result from the use of different standard-setting techniques leaves decision makers with a disturbing dilemma: Which standard-setting method is best? This investigation of the reliability and validity of 10 different standard-setting approaches was designed to provide information that might help…

Classical test construction and analysis procedures are applicable and appropriate for use with criterion referenced tests when samples of both mastery and nonmastery examinees are employed. (Author/BB)

The basis for selection of the calibration sample determines the kind of scale which will be developed. A random sample from a population of individuals leads to a norm-referenced scale, and a sample representative of abilities of a range of characteristics leads to a criterion-referenced scale. (Author/BB)

In a previous paper (Hartley and Holt, 1971) the development of a three-minute reasoning test was described, and its validity and reliability assessed. In this paper three experiments are reported which look in greater detail at these aspects of the test in different situations. (Author)

Describes the examination of the effectiveness of oral vs. written testing in an undergraduate psychology course that was taught by the Keller method of instruction. (Editor)

Investigated with 129 kindergarten children were test-retest reliability and validity of the Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP), and changes in factorial relationships among the five DTVP subtest after a 10-week use of the program of M. Frostig. (MC)

This paper outlines the use of confirmatory factor analytic techniques to assess the reliability of television program checklists as indicators of television exposure, to estimate the stability of television exposure over time, and to detect patterns of television content preference. A causal model incorporating these three properties was…