Researchers are now attempting to improve techniques for studying stable behavior patterns in family systems over long periods of time, e.g., the marital dyad across several levels of function and dysfunction covering time periods of months to years. One approach to improving this research design is based on the assumptions that longitudinal…

One means of learning about the processes operating in a multiple choice test is to include some test items, called nonsense items, which have no correct answer. This paper compares two versions of a mathematical model of test performance to interpret test data that includes both genuine and nonsense items. One formula is based on the usual…

This report documents a computer program for simulation evaluation of item response theory (IRT) ability estimators. This Honeywell DPS version is a very slight modification of the program originally developed in FORTRAN-77 on a DEC VAX 11/780. The model of the world simulated by the program involves a unidimensional test in which the probability…

This book is intended as a demonstration that a variety of interesting problems suitable for use in the school mathematics experience of everyperson can be fabricated from available sources. It is intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. The problems in the book are intended to be accessible to children by the middle school years. The…

A communication model suggests that in almost all cases where dissemination and utilization of knowledge has taken place, one or more of seven general factors can be identified as having been active in aiding the phenomena. The proposed factors are: linkage, structure, capacity, openess, reward, proximity, and synergy. In order to use this model…

The problem of spurious significance in multivariate exploratory research is discussed. When a very large number of statistical tests are performed, many tests will be significant on the basis of chance alone. To counter this problem, the use of two sign tests to analyze sets of results has been suggested; the chance expectation [CE test] assesses…

Few phenomena in psychology have been studied more than reaction time. However, while response latency now provides the basic data for research in many areas of cognitive psychology, little work has been done on the problem of incorporating response latency in the measurement of individual differences. A solution to this problem requires the…

This publication describes some of the work of the UNESCO Division of Statistics on Education on the evaluation of the internal efficiency of educational systems that followed from the 1970 International Conference on Education. The first section contains a brief summary of the conclusions of the "Expert Meeting on the Evaluation of Internal…

Educational outcomes are affected by student level, classroom level, and school level characteristics. The fact that educational data are multilevel in nature poses serious analysis questions. Though strong arguments can be made for focusing on a single level of analysis, such studies have several basic limitations: the choice of analytic level…

Several models for enrollment projections have been developed based on past performance. One of these, a computer-assisted model developed at the California State University at Northridge, was tested for possible use at Los Angeles Pierce College (LAPC). From three to five previous comparable college terms are used in the model to predict…

The first step of the data analysis with respect to the eventual application of the various new methods in latent trait theory is here initiated. The data are a set of approximately 500 item responses of each of 7,439 examinees to the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Form 6, on one of three difficulty levels, which correspond to the ages of 11, 12 and…

It is shown that empirical mental test P - P plots are approximately equal to theoretical item-item curves, at least for long tests administered to many people. This result is important because it leads to (1) a distribution free method for estimating points on item-item curves; (2) a general method for defining estimates of item parameters; and…

The knowledge and mental processes called on in mathematics can be used to improve composition. Three desirable requirements of an analogy to be used in teaching writing are that it should bridge the art of writing and science, should be readily accessible to the mind of the average student, and should allow the student to employ an architectural…