We extend a unified and easy-to-use approach to measurement error and missing data. In our companion article, Blackwell, Honaker, and King give an intuitive overview of the new technique, along with practical suggestions and empirical applications. Here, we offer more precise technical details, more sophisticated measurement error model…

Inter-rater reliability, commonly assessed by intra-class correlation coefficient ICC, is an important index for describing the extent to which there is consistency amongst two or more raters in assigned measures. In organizational research, the data structure is often hierarchical and designs deviate substantially from the ideal of a balanced…

As the U.S. population ages and policy changes emerge, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the U.S. will experience a significant shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs). Many colleges and universities are attempting to increase the size of nursing cohorts to respond to this imminent shortage. Notwithstanding a 2.6%…

Multiple linear regression and ANOVA models are widely used in applications since they provide effective statistical tools for assessing the relationship between a continuous dependent variable and several predictors. However these models rely heavily on linearity and normality assumptions and they do not accommodate categorical dependent…

The authors investigated the extent to which taking specific types of Advanced Placement (AP) courses and the number of courses taken predicts the likelihood of passing subject benchmarks and earning a score of 19 on the composite score on the ACT test, and examined the role gender plays in the projection. They found evidence that taking an AP…

The form of item log-likelihood surface was investigated under two-parameter and three-parameter logistic models. Results confirm that the LOGIST program procedures used to locate the maximum of the likelihood functions are consistent with the form of the item log-likelihood surface. (SLD)

The predictive analysis approach to adaptive testing originated in the idea of statistical predictive analysis suggested by J. Aitchison and I.R. Dunsmore (1975). The adaptive testing model proposed is based on parameter-free predictive distribution. Aitchison and Dunsmore define statistical prediction analysis as the use of data obtained from an…

The real problems of contextual analysis concern the conceptualization of contextual effects, the kinds of data with which to estimate them, and the selection and implementation of appropriate statistical techniques. This paper focuses on detection; specifically, an approach to contextual analysis based on the estimation and interpretation of a…

A correlation matrix of 21 structure-of-intellect (SOI) tests taken by 204 Marine officers at a military base in Southern California, which was intended to reflect aptitudes for military leadership, was reanalyzed through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis. Higher order factors appeared to have…

The development of new statistical methods of log-linear models by Leo Goodman has led to major advances in the statistical analysis of categorical data. Goodman's logit analysis, (the simplest form of log-linear models) can be applied in evaluation studies to estimate the "main effects" and "interaction effects" of categorical…

Standard procedures for estimating item parameters in Item Response Theory models make no use of auxiliary information about test items, such as their format or content, or the skills they require for solution. This paper describes a framework for exploiting this information, thereby enhancing the precision and stability of item parameter…

Problems and procedures in assessing and obtaining fit of data to the Rasch model are treated and assumptions embodied in the Rasch model are made explicit. It is concluded that statistical tests are needed which are sensitive to deviations so that more than one item parameter would be needed for each item, and more than one person parameter would…

How accurately ability is estimated when the test model does not fit the data is considered. To address this question, this study investigated the accuracy of the maximum likelihood estimator of ability for the one-, two- and three-parameter logistic (PL) models. The models were fitted into generated item characteristic curves derived from the…

Impacts of the parents' divorce and the student's academic potential and drug use on non-completion of high school were examined using 3 methods of structural equation modeling with latent variables. Data were collected from 706 adolescents (in grades 10 through 12). Maximum likelihood, asymptotically distribution-free, and categorical variable…

Appropriateness indexes (statistical formulas) for detecting suspiciously high or low scores on aptitude tests were presented, based on a simulation of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with 3,000 simulated scores--2,800 normal and 200 suspicious. The traditional index--marginal probability--uses a model for the normal examinee's test-taking…