A comparison of measures of association for 2x2 data was carried out by computer analysis. For each of 1,539 tables, 14 measures of association were calculated and evaluated. A measure based on the odds-ratio (Chambers, 1982) was most accurate in capturing the rho underlying a majority of the tables. (Author/BW)

A recurring problem in educational research is how to account for non-random selection that has restricted the range of the variables of interest in correlational analyses. Several expressions due to H. Pearson (1903) and presented in matrix notation by D. N. Lawley (1943-44) are commonly used in selection settings to adjust for samples chosen on…

Computer sampling from a multivariate normal spherical population was used to evaluate the type one error rates for a test of sphericity based on the distribution of the determinant of the sample correlation matrix. (Author/LMO)

A method for estimating the first eigenvalue of random data correlation matrices is reported, and its precision is demonstrated via comparison to the method of S. J. Allen and R. Hubbard (1986). Data generated in Monte Carlo simulations with 10 sample sizes reaching up to 1,000 were used. (SLD)

Monte Carlo methods were used to evaluate the degree to which canonical function and structure coefficients may be differentially sensitive to sampling error. For each of 64 research situations, 1,000 random samples were drawn. Both sets of coefficients were roughly equally influenced; some exceptions are noted. (SLD)

The impact of the use of data arising from balanced incomplete block (BIB) spiralled designs on the chi-square goodness-of-fit test in factor analysis is considered. Data from BIB designs posses a unique pattern of missing data that can be characterized as missing completely at random (MCAR). Standard approaches to factor analyzing such data rest…

Three correlation matrices (PEARSON, POLYCHORIC, and TOBIT) were used to obtain reliability estimates on ordered polytomous variable models. A Monte Carlo study with different levels of variable asymmetry and 400 sample correlation matrices demonstrated that the PEARSON matrix did not perform as well as did the other 2 matrices. (SLD)

The use of stepwise regression has been criticized for both interpretive misunderstandings and statistical aberrations. A major statistical problem with stepwise regression and other procedures that involve multiple significance tests is the inflation of the Type I error rate. General approaches to control the family-wise error rate such as the…