Health education researchers have occasionally used measuring tools inappropriately. Test validity and the use of criterion-referenced tests are discussed in view of this need to improve health education research. Also described are handbooks containing measuring devices for the use of health education researchers. (CJ)

The Florida International Diagnostic-Prescriptive Vocational Competency Profile was administered to 50 secondary level and 50 postsecondary level disabled trainees to establish interrater reliability and concurrent validity. Data analyses demonstrated the Profile has the technical characteristics of interrater reliability and concurrent validity.…

Discusses an indirect method of attitude measurement, policy-capturing, that can be applied on an individual basis. In three experiments this method detected prejudicial attitudes toward females not detected with traditional methods. Can be used as a self-improvement diagnostic tool for developing awareness of behavior influences. (JAC)

Presents necessary cross-validational evidence on the Impact of Event Scale, a measure introduced to provide researchers with a psychometrically sound self-report instrument assessing the essential characteristics associated with stress disorders. The data were consistent with a clinically derived theoretical model of the pattern of response to…

Obtained a hierarchical factor solution on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) subtest intercorrelations for the nine age groups included in the standardization sample. Findings support the validity of the WAIS-R as a measure of general intelligence and the validity of maintaining separate Verbal and Performance IQs. (Author)

Details a study designed to test whether it was possible to decrease the predictive validity of the Metropolitan Readiness Test when students were grouped for reading instruction. (FL)

Comparative research involving American minorities is examined in terms of external validity. It is proposed that an adequate approach to research would involve cultural, interpretive, population, ecological, and construct validity. (Author/MP)

Attempts are made to improve the previously used procedure for multidimensional scaling in the measure of conceptual level. Monte Carlo simulation runs and a laboratory experiment highlight potential incongruities related to the degree of error in the input data required by that process. Methodological recommendations are briefly evaluated.…

Reports on the construction and validation of a reading attitude scale designed to measure attitudes toward academic, general, and vocational reading materials. (FL)

Reveals that the Rauding Scale of Prose Difficulty provides results closer to Spache and Dale-Chall values than does the Singer Eyeball Estimate of Readability (SEER) technique. (FL)

A test instrument for assessing the preferences medical students show for six value categories (aesthetic, economic, political, religious, social, and theoretical) was developed using a case-study approach. Validation was by comparison of medical ethics and general values in nonmedical students. Further research on the social values category is…

Raises philosophical and technical questions about the Tennessee minimum competency testing program, including: what subject and skills are basic; who determines what competencies are minimal; what should be the consequences of failure; who is responsible for remediation of failing students; do or should skills being taught match skills being…

Examines the legal issues concerning (1) cultural bias in educational tests; (2) the validity of employment tests; and (3) the disclosure of test materials. Discusses the legal interpretations of psychometric concepts that have arisen from recent litigation. (Author/GC)

The purpose of licensing and certification tests is to protect the public. This purpose determines test content, difficulty of the items, test format, use of test scores in decision making, and ways of setting standards. Currently being explored are methods to ensure continued competence, and legal considerations related to antidiscrimination…

Cross-validated the factor analysis of the McCarthy Scales and determined construct validity for children who score one standard deviation below the normative mean on general cognitive ability. Findings discourage interpretation of the Quantitative Scale for school-age children with General Cognitive Indexes below 84. (Author)