The study examined the test-retest reliability in unaided and aided sound-field thresholds and the functional gain values derived from these measurements in 24 hearing-impaired adults. Test-retest standard deviations were slightly larger for functional gain than for unaided thresholds. (Author/DB)

A total of 45 3-month-olds were observed for stability in forming visual expectations. Findings indicate that infant performance in the Visual Expectation Paradigm is reliable as early as 3 months. Individual differences exist in infants' tendency to form visual expectations. (RH)

The stability of dimensions extracted from a body of free response data was studied using 1,523 expressions of concern and questions raised by 271 elderly persons and analyzed by 2 groups of experimenters. The structures of resulting multidimensional configurations obtained by the 2 groups were identical. (SLD)

Developed method for aggregating psychodynamic formulations of independent clinicians. Panels of clinicians observed videotaped interviews of patients and wrote individual formulations which were combined into consensual formulation. Other clinical raters read each consensual formulation and judged whether each problem was apt to be distressing…

To test model of general managerial effectiveness, superiors (N=271), subordinates (N=605), and peers (N=469) rated 344 managers. Study designed to test three specific hypotheses on criterion type and criterion weights found consensus in effectiveness models of superiors, subordinates, and peers. Consensus among different raters was high on both…

A coefficient derived from communalities of test parts represents greatest lower bound to Guttman's "immediate retest reliability." Constrained minimum trace factor analysis allows a consistent estimate of the greatest defensible internal-consistency coefficient. In modest size samples, this analysis capitalizes on chance, suggesting an…

Identifies counterproductive grading policies and practices, such as varying grading scales; worshipping averages; using zeros indiscriminantly; following the assign, test, grade, and teach pattern; failing to match testing to teaching; ambushing students; grading first efforts; establishing inconsistent criteria; and failing to recognize…

The problem of scaling ordinal categorical data observed over two or more sets of categories measuring a single characteristic is addressed. Scaling is obtained by solving a constrained entropy model. A Kullback-Leibler statistic is generated that operationalizes a measure for the strength of consistency among the sets of categories. (TJH)

The author suggests combining grades from component assessments to provide an overall student assessment. He explores the concept of reliability and concludes that the overall assessment will be reliable only if the number of grades used to report component achievements equals or exceeds the number used to report overall achievement. (Author/CH)

New coefficients of agreement are suggested for the measure of intraclass consistency between observations on two variables. The coefficients are derived from a general coefficient for measuring intraclass dependence in a bivariate analysis context. Various coefficients for the univariate agreement analysis are shown to be cases of the suggested…

Negative coefficients of reliability, sometimes returned by the standard formula for estimation of the internal-consistency reliability, are neither theoretically nor numerically correct. Alternative strategies for test development in this special case are suggested. (Author)

Proposes a new lock primitive called ordered sharing that allows increased concurrency in database systems. Reliability and performance issues of the proposed protocol are addressed, a simulation study that demonstrates that ordered sharing results in improved performance in database systems is described; and use in several representative database…

Outlines major features of qualitative research methods and rehabilitation research contexts for which these methods are particularly appropriate. Presents representative examples of qualitative rehabilitation research. Presents strategies for handling threats to reliability and validity within qualitative tradition and criteria for assessing…

Recommendations are made for the appropriate use and identification of traditional Kuder-Richardson formulas for the estimation of reliability. "Alpha" should be used for reliabilities estimated for tests or scales composed of items yielding scores distributed on more than two points. (SLD)

Examined interrater reliability of diagnoses made on basis of structured interview for psychiatric patients with and without psychoactive substance use disorders (PSUDs). Results from 47 pairs of ratings by 9 clinical interviewers revealed that interrater reliability for non-PSUD psychiatric diagnoses was quite high when patient had no diagnosable…