Demonstrates the use of a general model for latent variable growth analysis that takes into account cluster sampling. Multilevel Latent Growth Modeling was used to analyze longitudinal and multilevel data for adolescent and parent substance use measured at four annual time points for 435 families. (SLD)

H. H. Chang and W. F. Stout (1993) presented a derivation of the asymptotic posterior normality of the latent trait given examinee responses under nonrestrictive nonparametric assumptions for dichotomous item response (IRT) theory models. This paper presents an extension of their results to polytomous IRT models and defines a global information…

The concomitant-variable latent-class model is described for situations with continuous explanatory variables, and an EM estimation procedure to estimate the model is presented. The model is applied to the study of crime among ethnic groups in the Netherlands, and its utility is demonstrated. (SLD)

A heuristic example is presented in which parsimony as typically operationalized in indices of fit may not be desirable. In a simplex model of longitudinal data, the failure to include correlated uniquenesses relating to the same indicators on different occasions will typically lead to systematically inflated estimates of stability. (SLD)

Develops a theoretical model to evaluate universities' preference for teaching or research, using data from 25 British research universities for 1985-86 and 1991-92. Universities' utility functions have changed slightly; the relative weight attached to research has risen, whereas that attached to teaching has fallen. Institutional specialization…

Developed procedures for constructing a retrospective person-period data set from cross-sectional data and discusses modeling strategies for estimating multilevel discrete-time event history models. Applied the methods to the analysis of cigarette use by 1,979 urban adolescents. Results show the influence of the racial composition of the…

Studied the efficiency and robustness of alternative estimators of regression coefficients for three-level data. A simulation study shows that, as expected, the hierarchical model analyses produced more efficient point estimates than did analyses that ignored the covariance structure in the data, even when the normality assumption was violated.…

Following a brief discussion of test construction by linear programing, the results of a study by F. B. Baker and others (1988) with respect to a uniform target is replicated. It is demonstrated that the result depends on characteristics of the item pool. (SLD)

This paper makes the point that descriptive and inferential measures of nonnormality and graphic displays of the frequency distribution of important variables should be routine in research reporting. This point is particularly true for research involving measures with nonarbitrary metrics where the distribution shape is unaffected by measurement…

The use of proportions to transform raw scores into standardized, dimensionless units creates measurement problems. The use of fractional (percentage) uncertainties for physical or any other measurements results in other problems. Means of dealing with associated problems of standardization are discussed. (TJH)

Presents a formal method for making important one-shot decisions based on an elimination process which uses sequentially acquired information and is based on a conditional belief structure. The routine updating of the structure as information accumulates is based on Dempster's rule of combination. (15 references) (EAM)

An extension of the discussion of loglinear models presents post hoc procedures for statistically evaluating treatment effects, contrasts, and confidence intervals, illustrating methods for main effect and interaction contrasts and paying special attention to odds ratios and their interval estimates. Procedures for treating variables as…

The problems posed for latent variable analysis by populations with different sets of parameter values are discussed. An overview of methodology to address heterogeneity is presented, including a review of structural modeling by the multiple indicator-multiple causes model and the use of the LISCOMP computer program. (SLD)

A new method is presented for determining the minimum number of observations per subject needed to achieve a specific generalizability coefficient. The method, consisting of a branch-and-bound algorithm, enables an investigator to specify an acceptable threshold for generalizability coefficients. (SLD)

Two methods of estimating parameters in the Rasch model are compared. The equivalence of likelihood estimations from the model of G. J. Mellenbergh and P. Vijn (1981) and from usual unconditional maximum likelihood (UML) estimation is demonstrated. Mellenbergh and Vijn's model is a convenient method of calculating UML estimates. (SLD)