The Mantel-Haenszel (MH) procedure has become one of the most popular procedures for detecting differential item functioning (DIF). One of the most troublesome criticisms of this procedure is that while detection rates for uniform DIF are very good, the procedure is not sensitive to non-uniform DIF. In this study, examinee responses were generated…

The extent to which properties of the ability scale and the form of the latent trait distribution influence the estimated item parameters of item response theory (IRT) was investigated using real and simulated data. Simulated data included 5,000 ability values randomly drawn from the standard normal distribution. Real data included the results for…

Designed to provide librarians, library administrators, and other interested persons with information organized to facilitate comparisons of libraries within the same library system, with comparable service populations, and with comparable expenditures, this publication contains information derived from the 1985 Annual Report/System Membership…

Most currently used measures of inter-rater agreement for the nominal case incorporate a correction for "chance agreement." The definition of chance agreement is not the same for all coefficients, however. Three chance-corrected coefficients are Cohen's Kappa; Scott's Pi; and the S index of Bennett, Goldstein, and Alpert, which has…

This report provides a general overview of available courseware for computer assisted instruction by examining the distribution of these packages across grade level, hardware type, instructional mode, and subject areas, including art, business education, computer science, language arts, foreign language, mathematics, science, social studies,…

This study examined the sampling distribution of the analysis of variance F ratio in the two sample cases when it followed a preliminary test for variance equality. When the population variances were equal, the sampling distribution approximated the theoretical F distribution quite well, but not when population variances differed. (JAZ)

E. Burns' (1984) attempt to explain the below average mean IQ scores reported for samples of learning dsabled (LD) students through the use of the bivariate normal probability distribution was examined. Alternative explanations which focus on issues related to the referral, identification, and placement of children are presented.(Author)

Using computer simulation, parametric analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was compared to ANCOVA with data transformed using ranks, in terms of proportion of Type I errors and statistical power. Results indicated that parametric ANCOVA was robust to violations of either normality or homoscedasticity, but practiced significant power differences favored…

Randomized response measurement techniques have been proposed to overcome subject unwillingness to answer embarrassing or threatening questions truthfully. Many of the applications to date have dealt with health-related issues. This article demonstrates the application of the unrelated question randomized response design with one such question.…

Analyses for stress patterns of the first 1,000 nouns and 500 verbs from a high-frequency Russian vocabulary list. The most irregular patterns are seen in the most frequently occurring items and, therefore, should be learned early in the study of Russian. (Author/LMO)

Two methods of constucting equal-interval scales for educational achievement are discussed: Thurstone's absolute scaling method and Item Response Theory. Alternative criteria for choosing a scale are contrasted. It is argued that clearer criteria are needed for judging the appropriateness and usefulness of alternative scaling procedures.…

Frequency-of-circulation distributions from 16 United Kingdom libraries participating in initial period of operation of the Public Lending Right are discussed. Differences between the libraries are highlighted, and, for each, the adequacy of various refinements of the simplest model (geometric distribution, negative binomial distribution, or mixed…

Describes the Archive Retrieval and Analysis System (ARRAS), which provides rapid access to textual data and fast, flexible, open-ended analysis of individual texts; explains why the system should be viewed as a new kind of working environment; and suggests that such systems may influence users' intellectual point of view. (MBR)

The use of Bayesian theory to connect ordinal data and ordered scale points with the theory of order statistics is presented. Exact and approximate multivariate and marginal densities for the scale points are derived. (Author/JKS)

Review of recent developments in statistical theories for social sciences highlights Haitun's statistical distributions, Laplace's "Law of Succession" and distribution, Laplace and Bradford analysis of book-index data, inefficiency of frequency distribution analysis, Laws of Bradford and Zipf, natural categorization, and Bradford Law and…