This study examined the comparability and predictive validity of three approaches to measurement of child or adolescent maltreatment, involving the adolescents themselves (n=160), case file review by researchers, and protection agency social workers. Comparison of ratings across sources indicated considerable disagreement with respect to judgments…

Eighty normally hearing children (ages 4 to 8) judged the clarity of sentences that were systematically bandpass-filtered to increase intelligibility. Study of 10 subjects at each age found that children 5 years or older were able to make reliable clarity judgements using paired comparisons or category rating; however, the method of paired…

Observers and mothers rated infant behavior in the home on dimensions of temperament once a week for eight weeks. Although week-to-week correlations were modest, aggregates of the eight observations had high reliability for both observers and mothers. When direct observations were compared with mother reports, little evidence of mother-observer…

Studied African American culture, using a new, shortened, 33-item African American Acculturation Scale (AAAS-33) to assess the scale's validity and reliability. Comparisons between the original form and AAAS-33 reveal high correlations, however, the longer form may be sensitive to some beliefs, practices, and attitudes not assessed by the short…

Details a social constructionist reconfiguration of metaphor analysis (SCMA) that is advanced as a powerful, reflexive analytic tool for discourse-centered social constructionist investigations. Applies SCMA to a body of organizational socialization discourse and illuminates a set of prevailing assumptions that both enable and disable…

Both expectancy-theory and needs-theory variables were used to predict college student performance (overall grade point average) for 81 students. The average valence variable from the expectancy theory model was found to be the best overall predictor of actual academic performance, but the need for autonomy score was also a predictor. (SLD)

A study of 100 article citations from 11 library science journals showed only 45 article citations that were completely free of errors, while 11 had major errors--i.e., errors preventing or hindering location of the reference--and the remaining 44 had minor errors. Citation accuracy in library science journals appears similar to accuracy in other…

Discusses characteristics that attract parents to family day care providers. These characteristics include the caregiver's reliability, credibility, appearance, responsiveness, and ability to be empathetic. (BB)

Examined the construct validity of the Middle Childhood Temperament Questionnaire. Factor analysis revealed five factors. The factors of task persistence, negative reactivity, approach-withdrawal, and activity, but not the factor of responsiveness, were determined to have satisfactory levels of reliability. (MM)

Reviews research that sheds light on the comparability of Oral Proficiency Interview and the Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview. Suggestions are provided for further research. (16 references) (VWL)

Mothers, teachers, and assistant teachers completed two measures of child behavior when children born prematurely were two and three years old. Interinstrument correlations for total scores, and the stability of the Behavior Check List from two to three years, were moderate. Interrater agreements between teachers and assistant teachers were…

Analysis of reliability among peer reviews of 422 unsolicited articles for the "Journal of Clinical Anesthesia" found that most articles' reviews were consistent or near consistent. However, articles reviewed by two of the editorial board members were much less likely to be accepted than those read by two nonmembers. (Author/MSE)

Sixty-one examiners provided a rating of whether a significant change in performance of handicapped individuals occurred across the baseline and treatment phases of six graphs of hypothetical data from single-subject designs. Results revealed considerable interrater disagreement on four graphs, especially those involving change in variability or…

D.V. Budescu and J.L. Rogers (1981) proposed a method of adjusting correlations of scales to eliminate spurious components resulting from the overlapping of scales. Three reliability correction formulas are derived in this article that are based on more tenable assumptions. (SLD)

Developed Personal Independence Profile (PIP) as an instrument to measure aspects of independence beyond physical and cognitive functioning in people with diverse disabilities. PIP was tested for reliability and validity with 185 subjects from 10 independent living centers. Findings suggest that the Personal Independence Profile measures the…