In scientific research on creativity, there has been considerable debate concerning the criteria by which a production can be judged more or less creative, that is, about the definition of "creativity." The most frequent definition -- the "standard" definition -- incorporates the criteria of "novelty" and…

Conceptual replications have received increased coverage in the educational research agenda. This article argues for clarity in, and justification of, the definition, scope, and boundaries of a conceptual replication and what it can and cannot do. It argues for clear justifications when changing components from those of the original study. The…

Reviews the Intimate Friendship Scale based on 16 studies relevant to children and preadolescents. Presents the conceptual background of the test. Addresses questions regarding the scale and suggests directions for future research. (DR)

Instrument refinement refers to any set of procedures designed to improve an instrument's representation of a construct. Five objectives of instrument refinement are discussed, and instrument refinement practices are reviewed in a discussion of its role in the process of developing theory and sharpening construct definition. (SLD)

The multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) design of D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske (1959) is the most widely used paradigm for testing construct validity, but it continues to be plagued by problems associated with definition of terms, operationalizations of their guidelines, and analytic procedures used to test them. Using five diverse MTMM data sets,…

This paper attempts to define the construct of "morale" empirically and examine it within a broader theory of how organizations affect individuals. It investigates the concept's construct validity by proposing and testing a multilevel structural model to measure the impact of morale on midlevel administrators' intentions to leave their positions.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was (a) to obtain information about the perceptions held by seniors and health care providers concerning what constitutes a fall and potential reasons for falling, and (b) to compare these perceptions to the research literature. Design and Methods: As part of a larger telephone survey, interviewers asked 477…

A problem facing investigations of implicit and explicit learning is the lack of valid measures of second language implicit and explicit knowledge. This paper attempts to establish operational definitions of these two constructs and reports a psychometric study of a battery of tests designed to provide relatively independent measures of them.…

The idea that validity should be considered a property of inferences, rather than of assessments, has developed slowly over the past century. In early writings about the validity of educational assessments, validity was defined as a property of an assessment. The most common definition was that an assessment was valid to the extent that it…

In recent years, many psychological constructs with associated measures have been proposed for educational research and the evaluation of educational programs. Among the most interesting and potentially useful are those reflecting motivational and volitional aspects of human behavior, the conative constructs. Among the conative constructs are…