To estimate the influence of positive reinforcement on classroom learning, the authors analyzed statistical data from 39 studies spanning the years 1958-1978 and containing a combined sample of 4,842 students in 202 classes. Twenty-nine characteristics of each study's sample, methodology, and reliability were coded to measure their effects on…

Three procedures used to control Type I error rate in stepwise regression analysis are forward selection, backward elimination, and true stepwise. In the forward selection method, a model of the dependent variable is formed by choosing the single best predictor; then the second predictor which makes the strongest contribution to the prediction of…

Since migration is strongly influenced by economic variables, an economic model was developed to identify, locate, and track migrant and seasonal farmworkers as they move throughout the United States. Focusing on the Florida-based migrant agricultural workers who migrated at least once during the past five years, the model included the following…

Pre-selection criteria were developed to obtain a profile of student nurses who would compute a community college nursing program, and student nurses who would leave the program prior to completion. The battery consisted of tests and questionnaires based upon cognitive, personality/attitude, vocational preference, and socioeconomic status domains.…

A linear classification rule (used with equal covariance matrices) was contrasted with a quadratic rule (used with unequal covariance matrices) for accuracy of internal and external classification. The comparisons were made for seven situations which resulted from combining three data conditions (equal and unequal covariance matrices, minimal and…

The purpose of the present study is to demonstrate the utility of data analysis methodology in evaluative research relating pupil and curriculum variables to pupil achievement. Regression models which account for achievement will result from the application of the methodology to two evaluative problems--one of curriculum comparison and another…

Commonality analysis is an attempt to understand the relative predictive power of the regressor variables, both individually and in combination. The squared multiple correlation is broken up into elements assigned to each individual regressor and to each possible combination of regressors. The elements have the property that the appropriate sums…

The use of characteristic coding (dummy coding) is made in showing solutions to four multivariate problems using canonical analysis. The canonical variates can be themselves analyzed by the use of multiple linear regression. When the canonical variates are used as criteria in a multiple linear regression, the R2 values are equal to 0, where 0 is…

The development of new admissions standards for freshmen entering the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Forestry, the Institute of Technology, and the University of Minnesota at Morris is described and supporting research presented. The new admissions standards, which are based on a multiple correlation and regression approach using first…

Two approaches were used to predict State Board Examinations (SBE) results for students in four schools of nursing. Multiple regression was used to predict scores of 191 nurses who graduated and took the SBE. Discriminant function analysis was used for 375 nursing students to predict students who would take and pass the SBE from those who would…

Eight models for manpower utilization programs were developed that can indicate variables which differentiate successful Manpower Development and Training Act trainees from unsuccessful ones and that suggest program modifications in selection, placement, or services. (Author)

Twenty-nine community characteristics were studied to determine which were statistically most useful as predictors of per-pupil Federal aid to the 169 school districts of Connecticut. Three regression models were developed using community traits as predictors of Federal aid allocations. Cross-validation of regression models to predict future…

The model estimated the influences of a comprehensive list of factors classified as rational or nonrational equity and parity (marketplace). It is recommended for studying year-to-year changes in salary policies and for checking the importance of each factor in salary increase deliberations. (Author/LBH)

Romney's 1977 findings indicate that within student ratings, the course that an instructor teaches is as important a determiner of resulting ratings as the instructor himself. Reanalysis of his data indicates that the course effect is actually quite small, a result consistent with earlier studies. (Author/LBH)

A multivariate predictive index of student field performance to be used as an admissions tool in graduate schools of social work is described. It measures the effect on field performance of (1) a measure of the student's intellectual ability, (2) undergraduate school quality, (3) prior work experience, and (4) student sex. (Author/LBH)