Purpose: Agricultural extension services in poor countries often identify opinion leaders based on criteria such as wealth and social status. We explore the effectiveness of this top-down approach by analysing the role of so-called model and nodal farmers in the diffusion of malt barley in a highland community in Ethiopia. Research approach: We…

Network meta-analysis (NMA) is gaining popularity for comparing multiple treatments in a single analysis. Generalized linear mixed models provide a unifying framework for NMA, allow us to analyze datasets with dichotomous, continuous or count endpoints, and take into account multiarm trials, potential heterogeneity between trials and network…

This article advocates that introductory statistics be taught by basing all calculations on a single simple margin-of-error formula and deriving all of the standard introductory statistical concepts (confidence intervals, significance tests, comparisons of means and proportions, etc) from that one formula. It is argued that this approach will…

Critical race theory (CRT) in education centers, examines, and seeks to transform the relationship that undergirds race, racism, and power. CRT scholars have applied a critical race framework to advance research methodologies, namely qualitative interventions. Informed by this work, and 15 years later, this article reconsiders the possibilities of…

Recent research has explored the use of models adapted from Mokken scale analysis as a nonparametric approach to evaluating rating quality in educational performance assessments. A potential limiting factor to the widespread use of these techniques is the requirement for complete data, as practical constraints in operational assessment systems…

A readily applicable procedure is discussed that allows evaluation of the discrepancy between the popular coefficient alpha and the reliability coefficient of a scale with second-order factorial structure that is frequently of relevance in empirical educational and psychological research. The approach is developed within the framework of the…

The impact of the scoring systems on home field advantage in the highest-level Turkish soccer division, Turkish Super League, between the 1959-1960 and 2016-2017 seasons, was aimed to be examined in this study. 2-point system was used in Turkish Soccer Leagues between 1959 and 1987. Since 1987-1988 season, the 3-point system has been started to be…

Mplus is a powerful latent variable modeling software program that has become an increasingly popular choice for fitting complex item response theory models. In this short note, we demonstrate that the two-parameter logistic testlet model can be estimated as a constrained bifactor model in Mplus with three estimators encompassing limited- and…

Lagrange multiplier (LM) or score tests have seen renewed interest for the purpose of diagnosing misspecification in item response theory (IRT) models. LM tests can also be used to test whether parameters differ from a fixed value. We argue that the utility of LM tests depends on both the method used to compute the test and the degree of…

Since the 1970s, catalogs of protest events have been at the heart of research on social movements. To measure how protest changes over time or varies across space, sociologists usually count the frequency of events, as either the dependent variable or a key independent variable. An alternative is to count the number of participants in protest.…

The aim of this investigation is to compare velocity and power variables during loaded-squat jump (SJ[subscript Loaded]) exercise of national athletes dealing with different sports branches and to identify whether velocity and power parameters become different or not according to branches. In accordance with this purpose, a total of 36 national…

The present study was conducted to find out the effect of academic stress on achievement motivation of college students. 50 college students of various professional, arts, and science colleges functioning in and around Puducherry were approached at random to collect data using purposive sampling method. Academic stress scale developed and…

Utilizing panel data and taking heterogeneity and persistent inefficiency into account, we show the limitations of standard efficiency analysis for higher education institutions. It is the first time that the concept of long-term inefficiency is considered in the analysis of traditional universities. This inclusion allows for more accurate…

In this study, we aimed to explore whether action execution is an inherent part of the decision-making process. According to the hypothesis of embodied choice, the decision-making process is bidirectional as action dynamics exert their backward influence on decision processes through changing the cost and value of the potential options. This…

The aim of this study is to examine the attitude levels of students receiving education at university level towards sport with regard to certain variables. The research was designed with the scanning model. A "sport attitudes scale" was applied to a total of 547 students, selected by random sampling method, who were studying at Balikesir…