Most existing studies on the relationship between factor analysis (FA) and principal component analysis (PCA) focus on approximating the common factors by the first few components via the closeness between their loadings. Based on a setup in Bentler and de Leeuw (Psychometrika 76:461-470, 2011), this study examines the relationship between FA…

Communication in educational and community contexts often hinges not just on what is asked but why and how it is asked. This article introduces Sudhan's Question Intent Matrix, a novel 2x2 framework for interpreting the emotional and intentional layers behind questions. The matrix is defined by two axes -- Emotional Energy (ranging from defensive,…

Parallel analysis has been considered one of the most accurate methods for determining the number of factors in factor analysis. One major advantage of parallel analysis over traditional factor retention methods (e.g., Kaiser's rule) is that it addresses the sampling variability of eigenvalues obtained from the identity matrix, representing the…

Small sample sizes pose a severe threat to convergence and accuracy of between-group level parameter estimates in multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM). However, in certain situations, such as pilot studies or when populations are inherently small, increasing samples sizes is not feasible. As a remedy, we propose a two-stage regularized…

Introduction: It is well documented that preschoolers with DLD produce first instances of sentential complement clause sentences later than same-age peers with typical language. However, it remains unknown whether children with DLD are limited in their production of a variety of sentential complement clause sentences. Aims: Using a sentence…

One of the central components of cognitive diagnostic assessment is the Q-matrix, which is an essential loading indicator matrix and is typically constructed by subject matter experts. Nonetheless, to a large extent, the construction of Q-matrix remains a subjective process and might lead to misspecifications. Many researchers have recognized the…

We implemented tact matrix training to teach tacts of spatial locations to four children (male, 4-7 years of age) on the autism spectrum in China. The experimental design involved a multiple-probe design across participants with pre- and postinstruction probes on untaught tacts and listener responses. Learning outcomes included taught tacts of…

Excellence in research is essential for advancing knowledge, fostering innovation, and addressing societal challenges. This article proposes the INDEX Strategy Framework as a structured, evidence-based guide to optimize the research process. The framework encompasses five critical phases: Identify Focus Areas, Network and Collaborate, Design…

Human ratings are ubiquitous in creativity research. Yet, the process of rating responses to creativity tasks -- typically several hundred or thousands of responses, per rater -- is often time-consuming and expensive. Planned missing data designs, where raters only rate a subset of the total number of responses, have been recently proposed as one…

The purpose of this qualitative meta-analysis (QMA) is to provide a concise and comprehensive picture of findings across qualitative studies to answer this question: What factors contribute to systematically closing the opportunity gap for all students, and particularly for students labelled linguistically and culturally diverse? The ultimate goal…

In this paper, we describe student understanding of the "force concept" (basic concepts of Newtonian mechanics) by representing it as a vector-valued quantity, which we refer to as the "score-state vector," in a (30-dimensional) Force Concept Inventory (FCI) score space. We use a large ensemble of FCI results collected…

Alcohol prevention research for college students has resulted in numerous efficacious approaches, but the timeline from development to implementation is long. The College Alcohol Intervention Matrix (CollegeAIM) is a dissemination and implementation tool developed in 2015 and updated in 2019 to aid in the selection of evidence-based alcohol…

The standard methodology for many large-scale assessments in education involves regressing latent variables on numerous contextual variables to estimate proficiency distributions. To reduce the number of contextual variables used in the regression and improve estimation, we propose and evaluate principal component analysis on the covariance matrix…

Contemporary science education themes are marked by the inevitable uncertainty of consequences emerging from human actions. They encompass disasters, pandemics and other events that have been marking our present times. Understanding new risks as the ones resulting from human action, even when proposing a solution for an issue, is one of the…