This article develops a set-theoretic approach to Bayes's theorem and Bayesian process tracing. In the approach, hypothesis testing is the procedure whereby one updates beliefs by narrowing the range of states of the world that are regarded as possible, thus diminishing the domain in which the actual world can reside. By explicitly connecting…

A method for medical screening is adapted to differential item functioning (DIF). Its essential elements are explicit declarations of the level of DIF that is acceptable and of the loss function that quantifies the consequences of the two kinds of inappropriate classification of an item. Instead of a single level and a single function, sets of…

Two basic data sources required for research studies have been secondary and primary. Secondary data collection helps the researcher to provide relevant background to the study and are, in most cases, available for retrieval from recorded sources. Primary data collection requires the researcher to venture into the field where the study is to take…

Assigning difficulty level indicators to the knowledge units helps the learners plan their learning activities more efficiently. This paper focuses on how to use the topology of a knowledge map to compute and rank the difficulty levels of knowledge units. Firstly, the authors present the hierarchical structure and properties of the knowledge map.…

Epidemiology uses strong sampling methods and study designs to test refutable hypotheses regarding the causes of important health, mental health, and social outcomes. Epidemiologic methods are increasingly being used to move developmental psychopathology from studies that catalogue correlates of child and adolescent mental health to designs that…

Previous methodological and applied studies that used binary logistic regression (LR) for detection of differential item functioning (DIF) in dichotomously scored items either did not report an effect size or did not employ several useful measures of DIF magnitude derived from the LR model. Equations are provided for these effect size indices.…

As collaborative learning in general, and pair programming in particular, has become widely adopted in computer science education, so has the use of pedagogical visualization tools for facilitating collaboration. However, there is little theory on collaborative learning with visualization, and few studies on their effect on each other. We build on…

Outlines an exploratory multidimensional scaling-based approach to profile analysis called Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) (M. Davison, 1994). The PAMS model has the advantages of being applied to samples of any size easily, classifying persons on a continuum, and using person profile index for further hypothesis studies, but…

Implicit in the work of S. Huck and H. Sandler (1979) is the idea that the concept "rival hypotheses" refers to some kind of alternative explanation. Rather than being threats to internal validity, rival hypotheses, in their view, are interpretations that differ from those of the researcher. This paper broadens the idea to include any…

Investigates a hypothesis that concerns the importance of storytelling as an infrastructure that serves to create, transmit, and authenticate folklore based on a collection of Puerto Rican children's folktales with the character of Juan Bobo. Discusses cultural identity and boundaries, oral traditions, classification of folktales, and future…

Social perspective taking (SPT) is thought to be important in its own right and is often associated with other important skills, such as interpersonal conflict resolution. Previous research on SPT, however, has conceptualized it as a unidimensional construct leaving scholars with an insufficient understanding of this aptitude and how it relates to…

Explains the use of contingency tables as a tool in assessing variables to determine whether a relationship exists. Develops an example hypothesis step-by-step, noting the scientific processes and attitudes being addressed. Cautions that a large difference, which suggests a relationship, is not explanation since correlation does not guarantee…