When one wants to set data reliability standards for a class of scientific inquiries or when one needs to compare and select among many different kinds of data with reliabilities that are crucial to a particular research undertaking, then one needs a single reliability coefficient that is adaptable to all or most situations. Work toward this goal…

The jackknife statistic is discussed as a viable invariance procedure. Data from a study of leadership illustrates the use of the jackknife in determining the stability of canonical function coefficients following canonical correlation analysis. The jackknife procedure entails arbitrarily omitting one observation or a subset of observations at a…

Using computer simulation data, the effect of a single global outlier in two-group classification analysis was explored in terms of the outcome variables of change in classification results (PCHNG), change in misclassification rate (MISDIF), and change in precision of misclassification rate estimation. The precision of misclassification rate…

This paper empirically and systematically assessed the performance of bootstrap resampling procedure as it was applied to a regression model. Parameter estimates from Monte Carlo experiments (repeated sampling from population) and bootstrap experiments (repeated resampling from one original bootstrap sample) were generated and compared. Sample…

Population invariance is an important requirement of test equating. An equating function is said to be population invariant when the choice of (sub)population used to compute the equating function does not matter. In recent studies, the extent to which equating functions are population invariant is typically addressed in terms of practical…

Researchers increasingly recognize that significance tests are limited in their ability to inform scientific practice. Common errors in interpreting significance tests and three strategies for augmenting the interpretation of significance test results are illustrated. The first strategy for augmenting the interpretation of significance tests…

The robustness of LISREL computer program maximum likelihood estimates under specific conditions of model misspecification and sample size was examined. The population model used in this study contains one exogenous variable; three endogenous variables; and eight indicator variables, two for each latent variable. Conditions of model…

Generalizability or invariance procedures have been known for over three decades. Through the years, these procedures have not been widely discussed or employed. One reason for the lack of use is that most of the articles on invariance procedures have been mathematically oriented. The mathematical orientation of research articles and the lack of…

Power is an indicator of the ability of a statistical analysis to detect a phenomenon that does in fact exist. The issue of power is crucial for social science research because sample size, effects, and relationships studied tend to be small and the power of a study relates directly to the size of the effect of interest and the sample size.…

Present research connected with computer-based instruction indicates that many investigators rely on conventional experimental design and data analysis to address the research question. Although this is appropriate in many cases, the limits of hard and software resources and sample size in other cases have made conventional approaches a poor…

ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY OPINION AND REACTION DEPENDS UPON ADEQUATE SAMPLING TECHNIQUES. VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS PROVIDE ONE SOURCE FROM WHICH TO DRAW SAMPLES. RESEARCHERS MUST CONSIDER THE COSTS OF LARGE SAMPLES IN RELATION TO TWO QUESTIONS--(1) THE CLOSENESS WITH WHICH THE TOTAL POPULATION IS TO BE MATCHED BY THE SAMPLE, AND (2) THE…

This study in parametric test theory deals with the statistics of reliability estimation when scores on two parts of a test follow a binormal distribution with equal (case 1) or unequal (case 2) expectations. In each case biased maximum-likelihood estimators of reliability are obtained and converted into unbiased estimators. Sampling distributions…

A two-stage generalized least squares model is developed for estimating the linear regression of an individual outcome on a group characteristic in studies of multilevel data. Results of this model are compared to the results of analytic methods, and formulas are developed for assessing the accuracy of the traditional approaches. (Author/JAZ)

Computer sampling from a multivariate normal spherical population was used to evaluate the type one error rates for a test of sphericity based on the distribution of the determinant of the sample correlation matrix. (Author/LMO)

The authors previously discussed the importance of effect size and Type II errors as factors in determining sample size. Tables were developed and presented for one-factor designs with k levels. As these tables could not be used for the one sample case, comparable tables were developed and are presented. (Author/DWH)