Evaluated multidimensional linking procedures based on a framework recently proposed by T. Davey, T. Oshima, and K. Lee (1966): (1) the Direct method; (2) the Equated Function method; (3) the Test Characteristic Function method; and (4) the Item Characteristic Function method. Simulation results indicate advantages to the last two methods, but all…

Restricted the range of nonnormal distributions by eliminating scores above a designated cutoff value or eliminating scores above or below the mean by a certain distance. Results of a simulation study show that range restriction sometimes increased the correlation between variables having outlier prone distributions. Discusses practical…

Conducted a simulation study to determine how well two models for local item dependency, the constant order interaction and the dimension-dependent interaction models, could be distinguished. Results suggest that when there is good reason to suspect a dimension-dependent interaction, it is possible to detect it if the sample size is at least 500.…

Developed an approximate statistical test for the hypothesis of equality between the Spearman-Brown extrapolations of two independent values of Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the procedure effectively controls Type I error. (SLD)

Describes an idiosyncracy of the MULTILOG (D. Thissen, 1991) parameter estimation process discovered during a simulation study involving the graded response model. A misordering reflected in boundary function location parameter estimates resulted in a large negative contribution to the true score followed by a large positive contribution. These…

Relates Thurstonian models for paired comparisons data to Thurstonian models for ranking data and proposes an intermediate model for paired comparisons data that assigns nonzero probabilities to all transitive patterns and to some, but not all, intransitive patterns. Conducted a simulation study to investigate the performance of three alternative…

K-means cluster analysis is known for its tendency to produce spherical and equally sized clusters. To assess the magnitude of these effects, a simulation study was conducted, in which populations were created with varying departures from sphericity and group sizes. An analysis of the recovery of clusters in the samples taken from these…

There is no shortage of recommendations regarding the appropriate sample size to use when conducting a factor analysis. Suggested minimums for sample size include from 3 to 20 times the number of variables and absolute ranges from 100 to over 1,000. For the most part, there is little empirical evidence to support these recommendations. This…

This research examines the use simulation, "StarPower," as an instrument to teach students about ethics in management and leadership. The paper begins with an overview of sources of learning in leadership and management development and later focuses specifically on the use of simulations. This is followed by a brief explanation of the…

Past estimates of the effect of family income on child development have often been plagued by endogeneity and measurement error. In this paper, we use two simulated instrumental variables strategies to estimate the causal effect of income on children's math and reading achievement. Our identification derives from the large, non-linear changes in…

The contributions of Joseph V. Brady to behavioral pharmacology span more than 50 years and range from early studies using the Estes-Skinner ("conditioned emotional response") procedure to examine drug effects and various physiological processes in experimental animals to the implementation of mobile methadone treatment services and to small group…

Person-fit methods are used to uncover atypical test performance as reflected in the pattern of scores on individual items in a test. Unlike parametric person-fit statistics, nonparametric person-fit statistics do not require fitting a parametric test theory model. This study investigates the effectiveness of generalizations of nonparametric…

According to the recent Nation's Report Card, 12th-graders failed to produce gains on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) despite earning better grades on average. One possible explanation is that 12th-graders were not motivated taking the NAEP, which is a low-stakes test. We develop three Bayesian IRT mixture models to…

The stochastic simulation of chemical reactions, specifically, a simple reversible chemical reaction obeying the first-order, i.e., linear, rate law, has been presented by Martinez-Urreaga and his collaborators in this journal. The current contribution is intended to complement and augment their work in two aspects. First, the simple reversible…

Criteria had been proposed for assessing the severity of possible test security violations for computerized tests with high-stakes outcomes. However, these criteria resulted from theoretical derivations that assumed uniformly randomized item selection. This study investigated potential damage caused by organized item theft in computerized adaptive…