Physics education researchers are interested in using the tools of machine learning and natural language processing to make quantitative claims from natural language and text data, such as open-ended responses to survey questions. The aspiration is that this form of machine coding may be more efficient and consistent than human coding, allowing…

Students in a junior- and senior-level Anatomy and Physiology course have the opportunity to correct missed exam questions ("regrade") and earn up to half of the original points missed. The three objectives of this study were to determine if: (a) performance on the regrade assignment was correlated with scores on subsequent exams, (b)…

This paper draws upon the sociology of numbers, particularly work by Theodore Porter, to reveal the multifarious ways in which numbers actively constitute practices in schools. Drawing upon a case study of one low-performing school in a low-performing region in the state of Queensland, Australia, and theorising into the sociology of numbers, the…

This booklet grew out of a half-day class on equating that author Samuel Livingston teaches for new statistical staff at Educational Testing Service (ETS). The class is a nonmathematical introduction to the topic, emphasizing conceptual understanding and practical applications. The class consists of illustrated lectures, interspersed with…

A primary goal of assessment is to deliver truthful and clear information that can be used to inform and improve outcomes. Although there are multiple ways to achieve this goal, common approaches can be broken down into two major categories: (1) direct assessment; and (2) indirect assessment. Indirect assessment typically relies on general…

The role of the administrator has evolved over the past 30 years from manager to instructional leader. As instructional leaders, administrators are now responsible for student achievement on high-stakes state-mandated assessments. Therefore, it is imperative principal preparation programs provide the necessary training instructional leaders need…

Though calibration of an achievement test within psychological and educational context is very often carried out by the Rasch model, data sampling is hardly designed according to statistical foundations. However, Kubinger, Rasch, and Yanagida (2009) recently suggested an approach for the determination of sample size according to a given Type I and…

This study investigated the influence of host community on industrial relations practices and policies using Agbara community and Power Holding Company of Nigeria PLC as a case. The study adopted both the qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of 120 samples were drawn from the population using the simple random sampling technique in which…

The sign test is perhaps the simplest nonparametric procedure comparable to the commonly used parametric t-test. This test is easily applied which makes it useful preliminary analysis and for the analysis of data of passing interest. A large variety of its applications to education research, usually not found in the standard textbooks, is included…

This study presents the results of statistical use in the field of communication as evidenced by the research published in the last two years of the Journal of Communication. (Author/RK)

Differentiating between time-series design and time-series analysis, examines design considerations and reanalyzes data previously reported by Mayer and Kozlow in this journal. The current analysis supports the analysis performed by Mayer and Kozlow but puts the results on a somewhat firmer statistical footing. (Author/JN)

Too few researchers understand what statistical significance testing does and does not do, and consequently their results are misinterpreted. This Digest explains the concept of statistical significance testing and discusses the meaning of probabilities, the concept of statistical significance, arguments against significance testing,…

A Monte Carlo technique was employed in order to compare the relative power and robustness of the Bartlett, Cochran, Hartley, and Levene tests for homogeniety of variance. (Editor)

A diagnostic test in English as a second language should be a series of miniature tests on specific problems. Subscores in each area should be considered rather than a total score. The results should be used to probe mastery in an area rather than provide the means for comparing one student against another. The statistical reliability of the…

Data from 2-, 3-, 6-, and 7-point rating scales were analyzed to determine whether scale length affected response patterns. Results indicate that data configurations are relatively invariant with changes in number of scale points. (Author)