The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate in detail how the Empirical Bayes (EB) statistical estimation strategy can be applied to an important class of educational research contexts. EB methods are tailored specifically to the analysis of data with a hierarchical structure. For instance, investigators may be interested in discovering how…

Lord's Paradox is analyzed in terms of a simple mathematical model for causal inference. The resolution of Lord's Paradox from this perspective has two aspects. First, the descriptive, non-causal conclusions of the two hypothetical statisticians are both correct. They appear contradictory only because they describe quite different aspects of the…

The concomitant-variable latent-class model is described for situations with continuous explanatory variables, and an EM estimation procedure to estimate the model is presented. The model is applied to the study of crime among ethnic groups in the Netherlands, and its utility is demonstrated. (SLD)

An extension of the discussion of loglinear models presents post hoc procedures for statistically evaluating treatment effects, contrasts, and confidence intervals, illustrating methods for main effect and interaction contrasts and paying special attention to odds ratios and their interval estimates. Procedures for treating variables as…

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of tobit analysis and tobit decomposition in educational research. Tobit estimates of growth rate in the presence of a ceiling effect were compared with ordinary least squares (OLS) and weighted least squares (WLS) estimates. The tobit estimates had the smallest standard error, the smallest bias,…

In experiments with paired comparisons, judges are occasionally allowed to express indifference between alternatives. For the analysis of such data, models for paired comparisons with ties are needed. Several models with tie parameters are reviewed. All are extensions of the basic models of L. L. Thurstone (1927) and R. A. Bradley and M. E. Terry…

This paper is concerned with estimation and hypothesis testing of treatment effects in nonequivalent control group designs with the assumption that in the absence of treatment effects, natural growth conforms to a particular class of continuous growth models. Point estimation, interval estimation, and hypothesis testing procedures were developed…

A distribution theory is derived for a G. V. Glass-type (1976) estimator of effect size from studies involving paired comparisons. The possibility of combining effect sizes from studies involving a mixture of related and unrelated samples is also explored. Resulting estimates are illustrated using data from previous psychiatric research. (SLD)

Ordinary least-squares regression treats the variables asymmetrically, designating a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. When it is not obvious how to make this distinction, a researcher may prefer to use orthogonal regression, which treats the variables symmetrically. However, the usual procedure for orthogonal regression is…

Quantitative methods for research synthesis usually involve calculation of an estimate of effect size for each of a series of studies. Some problems associated with ad hoc methods of analysis, such as ordinary least squares regression analysis using estimates of effect size, are described. (Author/JKS)

In contrast to the average effect sizes of the approach to metanalysis that can be thought of as literature synthesis, an effect-size surface is proposed as a function of scientifically relevant factors, estimated by extrapolating a response surface of observed effect sizes to a region of ideal studies. (SLD)

To evaluate test speededness and to derive implications for test program activity, this study reviewed the literature on speed and power, identifying four major approaches to the assessment of speed: the Gulliksen approach, the Cronbach and Warrington approach, the Stafford approach, and the approach of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) as…

A review of cross-validation shrinkage formulas is presented which focuses on the theoretical and practical problems in the use of various formulas. Practical guidelines for use of both formulas and empirical cross-validation are provided. A comparison of results using these formulas in a range of situations is then presented. The result of these…

New ability estimators have been proposed by Wainer and Wright (1980) and Mislevy and Bock (1981) that are resistant against guessing and careless behaviors exhibited by some examinees. This paper presents another class of ability estimators that are resistant to departures from the underlying assumptions concerning guessing and carelessness. In…

An empirical sampling approach was used to assess the accuracy of a Taylor approximation for the estimation of sampling errors. The sampling errors were in the statistics involved in estimating a path model based on medium-sized samples gathered using five sample designs commonly used in educational research. (TJH)