The purpose of this paper is to highlight some psychometric cautions that should be observed when seeking to develop short form versions of tests. Several points are made: (1) score reliability is impacted directly by the characteristics of the sample and testing conditions; (2) sampling error has a direct influence on reliability and factor…

Item overlap coefficient (IOC) formulas are discussed, providing six warnings about their calculation and interpretation and some explanations of why item overlap influences the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory factor structures. (SLD)

Much of the effort involved in a major restructuring of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Test was intended to result in the creation of an analytical module to supplement the verbal and quantitative sections of the test, thus providing broadened measurement. Factor extension analysis was used in the present study to investigate…

Using three different forms of a 61-item administrator/supervisor questionnaire, the effects of both order and grouping were examined in separate analyses. For low-inference type items, factor structures obtained from survey data appear to be affected by item order, and, to a lesser extent, by grouping items. (Author/PN)

A French measure of motivation toward education was cross-culturally validated in English with 745 Canadian university students. Results demonstrate satisfactory internal consistency and temporal stability for the English version, the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). A LISREL confirmatory factor analysis confirms the seven-factor structure of the…

Five questionnaire forms containing 61 items specifying potential inservice topics for public school teachers were sent to a stratified random sample of Indiana public school administrators and curriculum supervisors. The five forms differed in that, for two forms, the items were ungrouped and appeared in different orders; and, for three forms,…

The sources of multidimensionality found in several different forms of a licensure examination were studied. The relationship between one source of multidimensionality, differential item functioning (DIF) (or factors producing DIF), and content characteristics was explored in an attempt to isolate aspects of training or curriculum that could…

The Social Integration Scale (SIS) is intended to facilitate empirical research on the applicability of control theory to many types of adult crime, including "street crime," white collar crime, and physical assaults on spouses. There are five subscales: (1) belief (belief in law and social control); (2) commitment (psychological…

A study was conducted to assess the validity of translations of two different forms of a licensing examination for cosmetologists in Florida to ensure that both Spanish and English candidates have equal chances of being licensed. The LISREL computer program was used to test the equivalence of factor structure, units of measurement, and standard…

The Gang Membership Inventory (GMI) was developed for use with urban high-risk youth and administered as part of a larger survey. The GMI consists of 15 true/false items asking about the respondent's involvement in gang activities in the year just past. Activities range from peripheral involvement to more serious involvement in gangs (e.g., being…