Research Findings: This study employed multiple approaches to examine the stability of teacher--child interaction quality in Chinese preschools. Teacher-child interaction quality was measured using the "Classroom Assessment Scoring System" (CLASS) on five observational cycles within a school day. Several different metrics of stability…

Cronbach's coefficient alpha has been widely known and used in educational research. Many education research practitioners, however, may not be aware of the potential issues when the main assumptions for coefficient alpha are violated in research practice. This paper provides a brief discussion about two assumptions that may make the use and…

In adolescence research, the treatment of measurement reliability is often fragmented, and it is not always clear how different reliability coefficients are related. We show that generalizability theory (G-theory) is a comprehensive framework of measurement reliability, encompassing all other reliability methods (e.g., Pearson "r,"…

Research Findings: This study examined the applicability of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Pre-K (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) and its underpinning framework of teaching through interactions in typical Chinese kindergarten classrooms. A sample of 180 kindergarten classrooms in China was selected, and the CLASS was used to…

Students' attitude towards science (SAS) is often a subject of investigation in science education research. Survey of rating scale is commonly used in the study of SAS. The present study illustrates how Rasch analysis can be used to provide psychometric information of SAS rating scales. The analyses were conducted on a 20-item SAS scale used in an…

Studied the effectiveness of various analytical formulas for estimating "R" squared shrinkage in multiple regression analysis, focusing on estimators of the squared population multiple correlation coefficient and the squared population cross validity coefficient. Simulation results suggest that the most widely used Wherry (R. Wherry,…

This study focused on the issue of measurement reliability and its attenuation on correlation between two composites and two seemingly different approaches for correcting the attenuation. As expected, Monte Carlo simulation results show that correlation coefficients uncorrected for measurement error are systematically biased downward. For the data…

The literature on measurement reliability shows the consensus that group heterogeneity with regard to the trait being measured is a factor that affects the sample measurement reliability, but the degree of such effect is not entirely clear. Sample performance also has the potential to affect measurement reliability because of its effect on the…

Illustrates a number of ways in which confidence intervals for reliability coefficients can be estimated. Suggests that authors who submit articles to "Educational and Psychological Measurement" report confidence intervals for reliability estimates whenever they report score reliabilities and that they note the interval estimation…

Performed a meta-analysis of reliability estimates for Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (A. Beck and others, 1961) scores across studies. Only 7.5% of studies reviewed (n=1,200) reported meaningful reliability estimates. Analysis results suggest that standard errors of measurement should be considered in addition to reliability estimates when…

Bootstrap analysis, both for nonparametric statistical inference and for describing sample results stability and replicability, has been gaining prominence among quantitative researchers in educational and psychological research. Procedurally, however, it is often quite a challenge for quantitative researchers to implement bootstrap analysis in…

Examined the effects of 2 examinee sample characteristics (group heterogeneity and performance level) on score reliability of optimal performance measurement using extant data sets of more 50,000 high school students and 10,000 sixth graders. Results suggest that both characteristics affect score reliability, and measurement error tends to be…