A Metropolis-Hastings Robbins-Monro (MH-RM) algorithm for high-dimensional maximum marginal likelihood exploratory item factor analysis is proposed. The sequence of estimates from the MH-RM algorithm converges with probability one to the maximum likelihood solution. Details on the computer implementation of this algorithm are provided. The…

In the present study the longitudinal relations between quantity of centre-based child care (in months) and teacher reports of internalising and externalising behaviour in the first and second grades were examined for 325 Slovenian children. The socio-political context of affordable, accessible and homogenously high-quality child care is quite…

Despite potential applications to educational contexts, the working alliance concept has largely been confined to psychotherapy intervention research. Some have explored theoretically related concepts (e.g., immediacy, rapport), but no measure currently exists of the working alliance between a teacher and student within an academic course. The aim…

This research is motivated by an analysis of reading research data. We are interested in modeling the test outcome of ability to fluently recode letters into sounds of kindergarten children aged between 5 and 7. The data showed excessive zero scores (more than 30% of children) on the test. In this dissertation, we carefully examine the models…

Doubly bounded continuous data are common in the social and behavioral sciences. Examples include judged probabilities, confidence ratings, derived proportions such as percent time on task, and bounded scale scores. Dependent variables of this kind are often difficult to analyze using normal theory models because their distributions may be quite…

In Iran, high school graduates enter university after taking a very difficult entrance exam called the Konkoor. Therefore, only the top-performing students are admitted by universities to continue their bachelor's education in statistics. Surprisingly, statistically, most of such students fall into the following categories: (1) do not succeed in…

Secondary respondent data are underutilized because researchers avoid using these data in the presence of substantial missing data. The authors reviewed, evaluated, and tested solutions to this problem. Five strategies of dealing with missing partner data were reviewed: (a) complete case analysis, (b) inverse probability weighting, (c) correction…

The primary findings of this study are preliminary support for the promotive effects of positive peer relations in an educational context with a specific group of First Nations adolescents. Eighty-one students from grades 6-11 who attended the sole school in the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach in northern Québec, representing virtually all of…

In the structural equation modeling literature, the normal-distribution-based maximum likelihood (ML) method is most widely used, partly because the resulting estimator is claimed to be asymptotically unbiased and most efficient. However, this may not hold when data deviate from normal distribution. Outlying cases or nonnormally distributed data,…

Incomplete nonnormal data are common occurrences in applied research. Although these 2 problems are often dealt with separately by methodologists, they often cooccur. Very little has been written about statistics appropriate for evaluating models with such data. This article extends several existing statistics for complete nonnormal data to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the underlying structure of the second edition of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (Ulrich, 2000) as applied to Chinese children. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2 was administered to 626 Hong Kong Chinese children. The outlier test with standard scoring was utilized. After data screening, a total…

In the last decades there has been an increasing interest in nonlinear latent variable models. Since the seminal paper of Kenny and Judd, several methods have been proposed for dealing with these kinds of models. This article introduces an alternative approach. The methodology involves fitting some third-order moments in addition to the means and…

The present study presents the formulation of graded response models in the multilevel framework (as nonlinear mixed models) and demonstrates their use in estimating item parameters and investigating the group-level effects for specific covariates using Bayesian estimation. The graded response multilevel model (GRMM) combines the formulation of…

Microblogging social networks (µBSNs) provide the opportunity to communicate worldwide while using a small number of characters; this is an apparent limitation that forces users to share only essential information when linking to the world with which they interact. These platforms can serve to motivate students by narrowing the physical and…

Existing research suggests that there is a relation between academic/cognitive deficits and externalizing behavior in young children, but the direction of this relation is unclear. The present study tested competing models of the relation between academic/cognitive functioning and behavior problems during early childhood. Participants were 221…