Covert checks of observational methodology reveal declines in reliability of observations. This appears to be particularly true when complex codes are used to track social interaction. The present study was undertaken to see whether reliability could be maintained through a combination of technological advancements and the development of improved…

This paper reports on the development and refinement of the Connecticut School Effectiveness Questionnaire (CSEQ) and the Connecticut School Effectiveness Interview (CSEI), the primary data collection tools used in the Connecticut State Department of Education School Effectiveness Project. The primary purpose of both the CSEI and the CSEQ is to…

Projective measurement of achievement motivation can be achieved by using a large number of scales quite suitable for this purpose and related concepts. This paper is a guide to the literature on measuring achievement motivation rather than a detailed review of each scale. The author introduces his scale which he feels is unique because it…

The initial form of the Coping with Death Scale consisted of 30 items designed to obtain responses arranged along a seven-point Likert-type scale. Each item on the scale was derived from personal responses of students who completed a death and dying seminar. The items appeared to fall into two categories: coping with self and coping with others.…

In recent years educators have been utilizing judgmental methods, such as the ones advocated by Ebel and Angoff, to set minimum competency standards on test items. This study was designed to investigate the reliability and validity of these two procedures in setting minimum levels of performance on 175 vocational evaluator competency statements.…

A seven item Likert-type scale was developed to measure self-righteousness, defined as the conviction that one's beliefs and actions are correct, especially in contrast to the beliefs and actions of others. The Self Righteousness Questionnaire (SRQ) measures three components of self-righteousness: belittlement, acceptance, and uncertainty. The…

Quality of performance data yielded by subjective judgment is of major concern to researchers in performance appraisal. However, some confusion exists in the analysis of quality on ratings obtained from different rating scale formats and from different raters. To clarify this confusion, a study was conducted to assess the quality of judgmental…

The stability of selected indices for detecting differential item performance (item bias), from one randomly equivalent sample to another, is addressed. Some recent research has criticized these indices as too unreliable for utility in measuring bias in achievement test items. Using data from a national testing of the ACT Assessment, however, this…

Of the many short forms of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) that have been developed, the MMPI-168 is among the most promising. To determine whether clinical judgments based on the MMPI-168 are comparable to judgments based on the standard MMPI, 30 clinical psychologists participated in a randomized block, repeated treatment…

Stability of K-ABC (Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children) performance of 33 nonhandicapped and 53 at-risk preschool children was examined over a 9- to 12-month period. A high level of stability for global scale scores as well as subtest scores was indicated for both groups of children. (PCB)

The problem of this study was to develop, validate, and establish the reliability of a computer simulation which would: (1) distinguish between concrete and formal thinking patterns related to control of variables; (2) be easily administered to a class of secondary school age subjects; (3) preserve the interactive aspects of the Piagetian task;…

Two types of classification error are possible in competency tests: erroneous classification of an individual as a "master" of the subject (Type II error), and erroneous classification of a master as a "nonmaster" of the subject (Type I). If steps are taken to minimize Type II errors, an artificially high number of true masters…

The scores of 11 non-handicapped kindergarten children on the Pragmatic Protocol (used in assessing language-handicapped children) were correlated with their ratings by five experienced judges on a 7-point equal-appearing interval scale of communicative competence. The concurrent validity of the Protocol and interobserver reliability were…

A factor analysis was conducted on Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) item scores of low-income black and white urban mothers of infants 13 to 30 months of age to determine the extent to which the existing subscales were evident in this factor analysis.

Reports on the development of a family-of-origin scale that may be used in reseach as an adjunct to therapy. The resultant scale attempts to measure self-perceived levels of health in one's family of origin. Presents data pertaining to the scale's validity, reliabilty, and normative sample. (Author/NRB)