Develops and validates the Masculine Behavior Scale (MBS) which is an objective self-report instrument designed to measure the following behavioral tendencies stereotypically imputed more to males than to females: (1) restrictive emotionality; (2) inhibited affection; (3) success dedication; and (4) exaggerated self-reliance. Analyzes scale's…

Discusses problems with the Committee on the General Aptitude Test Battery's report "Fairness in Employment Testing" (1989). Finds that, while the report is thorough, major questions remain in a number of areas, including inconsistent definitions, "false negatives," rationale for criteria, and lack of full disclosure. Endorses…

The validity of Tinto's model of college withdrawal was investigated with 100 4-year public college women and 165 2-year private college women. Institutional commitment was most directly affected by social integration. This commitment was seen as pivotal to retention. (IAH)

The reliability of a method of adjusting grade point averages for differences in college-departmental grading standards was examined, using 409 female and 518 male Dartmouth graduates. Such adjustments' effects on predictive validity of high-school grades, Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, and achievement test scores were assessed, including gender…

Constructed 25-item Attitudes toward Rape Victims Scale (ARVS) which emphasized victim blame, credibility, deservingness, denigration, and trivialization. Results from administration of ARVS to university students, social workers, psychologists, physicians, lawyers, and police officers in Singapore, and to university students in the United States…

Explores the sources of beliefs about science-technology-society topics and investigates the degree of ambiguity harbored by four different response modes, such as Likert-type, written paragraph, semistructured interview, and empirically developed multiple choice. Finds that mass media have a greater impact than science classes. (Author/YP)

Asserts that traditional approaches to multivariate analysis, including standard linear regression techniques, ignore the special character of count data. Explicates three suitable alternatives to standard regression techniques, a simple Poisson regression, a modified Poisson regression, and a negative binomial model. (MJP)

Researchers surveyed Kentucky high school seniors to collect data on and compare the results of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) open-response reading results and ACT reading multiple-choice format. Results found a great deal of disagreement between the KIRIS and ACT reading results. (SM)

Discusses the development of the Indonesian Chart of Developmental Milestones, designed for use with existing nutrition and mother-child welfare programs to monitor children's development. A reliability and validity study using 108 Indonesian children from birth to 36 months of age established a tester-observer reliability of 0.97 and a…

Four main approaches to customized testing are described, and their resulting scores' valid uses and interpretations are discussed. Customized testing can yield valid normative and curriculum-specific information, although cautious application is needed to avoid misleading inferences about student achievement. (SLD)

Examines what linguistic devices speakers use to make an entity salient in a discourse and how they re-refer to discourse entities moving in and out of focus. Speakers' center of attention was manipulated via a videotaped basketball game. Speakers referred to prominent entities as subjects; when they referred to them as objects, they repeated the…

This study of 12 children (ages 7-13) with mild to moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss found that psychoeducational diagnostic tests standardized on students with normal hearing may be used with confidence to assess both cognitive and academic levels of functioning in students with sensorineural hearing loss. (Author/JDD)

The Student Self-Concept Scale (SSCS) assesses self-efficacy expectations, outcome expectations, and subjective task value across academic, social, and self-image domains. This article discusses the scale's theoretical basis, standardization, reliability, and validity and offers a case study illustrating use of the SSCS with a child who had a…

Using a revised faith-maturity scale, researchers examined young adults in Adventist and public schools, comparing the data with the controversial Valuegenesis sample. Data analysis found the Thayer Mature Faith Scale valid and reliable. Students in Christian education demonstrated significant advancement in faith maturity over students in public…

Results from a performance assessment in which 68 high school students wrote essays support the use of latent variable modeling for estimating reliability, concurrent validity, and generalizability of a scoring rubric. The latent variable modeling approach overcomes the limitations of certain conventional statistical techniques in handling…