We developed a novel variation on classroom data collection by having students conduct a national research project. Students at 20 different colleges and universities measured "school spirit" at their institutions according to several operational criteria (school apparel wearing, car stickers, alumni donation rate, ratings by a major sports…

In this study, the authors introduced a multivariate multilevel model to estimate the consistency among students and schools in the rates of growth between mathematics and science achievement during the entire middle and high school years with data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY). There was no evident consistency in the rates…

Former baseball star Jim Lefebvre (1983) claimed that hitting a baseball may be the most talked about but least understood skill in all of sports. Historically, hitting instruction has been based on intuitive thinking by "hitting gurus," rather than on scientific fact, which has contributed to this lack of understanding (DeRenne, Stellar, &…

Examined the performances of schools in a large urban school district using achievement data from a longitudinally matched cohort of middle school students (3,299 students in 24 schools). Results suggest that assessments of school performance depend on choices of ways to model and analyze data. (SLD)

A pedometer is a practical, inexpensive tool used to measure physical activity. Bassett et al. (1996) found that interinstrument consistency of the Yamax Digi-Walker was higher than four other pedometers when measuring distance walked in adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interinstrument consistency of the Yamax pedometer in…

The purpose of this study was to seek understanding of the experience of those who support students with high needs in regular classes. Seven teacher aides were interviewed, with the interview and data analysis guided by Heideggerian phenomenology. The findings reveal that teacher aides are unprepared for the responsibility or the relationship…

Doctoral students' research presentations were investigated for the way in which the students articulated their rationales for data selection for their research projects. Rather than look for genre-related characteristics, though still working within the area of academic discourse (spoken), the objective of this study was to identify a set of…

Data in social and behavioral sciences typically possess heavy tails. Structural equation modeling is commonly used in analyzing interrelations among variables of such data. Classical methods for structural equation modeling fit a proposed model to the sample covariance matrix, which can lead to very inefficient parameter estimates. By fitting a…

This paper focuses on model interpretation issues and employs a geometric approach to compare the potential value of using the Grade of Membership (GoM) model in representing population heterogeneity. We consider population heterogeneity manifolds generated by letting subject specific parameters vary over their natural range, while keeping other…

Multi-indicator growth models were formulated as special three-level hierarchical generalized linear models to analyze growth of a trait latent variable measured by ordinal items. Items are nested within a time-point, and time-points are nested within subject. These models are special because they include factor analytic structure. This model can…

Based on the literature about self-disclosure, it was hypothesized that different groups of subjects differ in their pattern of self-disclosure with respect to different areas of social interaction. An extended latent-trait latent-class model was proposed to describe these general patterns of self-disclosure. The model was used to analyze the data…

With current focus on academic proficiency, career and technical education (CTE) programs have received less emphasis as an alternative to traditional high school curricular experiences. Yet, this study found that when compared to peers in general high school settings, students in one rural CTE high school center perceived significantly more…

A series of 13 survey questions based on a 50-50 spinner is used to explore school students' understanding of statistical variation in a chance setting. Five questions set the context by assessing the understanding of theoretical expectation and representation of repeated trials in a stacked dot (line) plot. Four questions provide opportunity to…

There is not a "typical" women's group, nor are there "typical" women's issues. Every women's group is diverse, with as many viewpoints and perspectives as there are members in the group. Using the group format for women is common practice with many counselors. It is interesting that there has been little empirical research reported on women's…

Measures of research self-efficacy have the potential to facilitate graduate training and mentoring, but the hypothesized factor structures of these measures have not been confirmed empirically. Moreover, the underlying dimensions of research self-efficacy across multiple measures are unknown. Graduate students in psychology programs (N = 1,004)…