A review of articles that report study results based on couple samples indicated response rates are rarely high enough for statistical inference. Four procedures that can be used to compensate for insufficient response rates (collecting information from nonparticipants, census comparisons, adjustment in analysis, and replication) are examined.…

Two articles are presented. The first reviews and suggests procedures for determining appropriate sample sizes and for determining the response representativeness in survey research. The second presents a study designed to determine the effects of computer use on keyboarding technique and skill. (CT)

The normative implications of applying significance tests in evaluation research are examined. The authors conclude that evaluators often make normative decisions, based on the traditional .05 significance level in studies with small samples. Additional reporting of the magnitude of impact, the significance level, and the power of the test is…

This paper discusses three software packages that offer unique features and options that greatly simplify the research package for conducting surveys. The first package, EPSILON, from Resource Group, Ltd. of Dallas (Texas) is designed to perform a variety of sample size calculations covering most of the commonly encountered survey research…

When multiple regression is used to develop a prediction model, sample size must be large enough to ensure stable coefficients. If sample size is inadequate, the model may not predict well in future samples. Unfortunately, there are problems and contradictions among the various sample size methods in regression. For example, how does one reconcile…

The analysis of interaction effects in multiple regression has received considerable attention in recent years, but problems with the valid identification of moderating variables have been noted by researchers. G. McClelland and C. Judd (1993), in their discussion of the statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderating effects,…

J. Barnette and J. McLean (1996) proposed a method of controlling Type I error in pairwise multiple comparisons after a significant omnibus F test. This procedure, called Alpha-Max, is based on a sequential cumulative probability accounting procedure in line with Bonferroni inequality. A missing element in the discussion of Alpha-Max was the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sample size on the power of five selected fit indices through a Monte Carlo simulation. Two models (a reduced and a complete model) and 6 sample sizes (20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1,000) were used to investigate the effect on the power of fit indices as the sample size was varied. The…

The probabilities of attaining varying magnitudes of standardized effect sizes by chance and when protected by a 0.05 level statistical test were studied. Monte Carlo procedures were used to generate standardized effect sizes in a one-way analysis of variance situation with 2 through 5, 6, 8, and 10 groups with selected sample sizes from 5 to 500.…

The empirical Type I error rates of Poly-DIMTEST (H. Li and W. Stout, 1995) and the LISREL8 chi square fit statistic (K. Joreskog and D. Sorbom, 1993) were compared with polytomous unidimensional data sets simulated to vary as a function of test length and sample size. The rejection rates for both statistics were also studied with two-dimensional…

In this paper, six statistical tests of stochastic equality are compared with respect to Type I error and power through a Monte Carlo simulation. In the simulation, the skewness and kurtosis levels and the extent of variance heterogeneity of the two parent distributions were varied across a wide range. The sample sizes applied were either small or…

This paper attempts to lay out some of the factors that need to be considered when a philanthropy decides to put a greater emphasis on "outcomes." The factors are divided into three broad categories: technical, substantive, and strategic. Technical factors are those dealing with how to measure outcomes. It must be recognized that…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Sympson and Hetter conditional procedure (SHC), a modification of the Sympson and Hetter (1985) algorithm, in controlling the exposure rates of items in a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) environment. The properties of the procedure were compared with those of the Davey and Parshall (1995) and the…

Examines the recommendations of H. Keselman, K. Carriere, and L. Lix (1993) regarding choice of sample size for obtaining robust tests of the repeated measures main and interaction hypotheses in a one Between-Subjects by one Within- Subjects design with a Welch-James type multivariate test when covariance matrices are heterogeneous. (SLD)

Analyzes advantages and disadvantages of methods of selecting sample sizes in multiple regression. Discusses importance of cross-validity to prediction studies. Describes categories of sample size selection methods: cross-validation approaches, rules of thumb, and statistical power methods. Uses multiple examples to present the precision power…