The factor structure of the Charles F. Kettering Climate Scale, a measure of educational environment, was studied with 351 junior high school students on 2 school campuses. Primary and secondary factor structures are reported, as are the Cronbach alpha reliability measures for scores on the second-order structures. (SLD)

Presents strategies for the culturally competent use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) when working with Chicanos (people of Mexican descent living in the United States). The strategies focus on administration and interpretation. Also presents a case study in which both the English- and Spanish-language MMPI-2 were…

Evidence is presented for the reliability and validity of the Talent Identification Instrument, an observation process in music and dance in which multiple judges rate students throughout a multisession audition. Strong agreement among raters and adequate stability estimates were found. Factor analysis and construct validity procedures provided…

A study of 83 people working in the field of autism evaluated the psychometric properties of the Autism Survey, an instrument to assess respondents' knowledge about autism. The survey was found to measure one factor, to be stable across time, and to have an internally consistent total score. (Author/CR)

The Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) screens for multiple problems among adolescents at risk for substance use. A shortened version of the POSIT was developed, using factor analysis, and correlational and reliability analyses. The POSIT-SF shows potential for a reliable and cost-efficient screen for youth with substance…

Examines religious practices of Hindus in the United States and develops measures of their religious pathways. Four religious pathways were identified: devotion, ethical action, knowledge, and physical restraint/yoga. Results indicate that the measures of the religious pathways possessed adequate psychometric properties and were predictive of…

Describes the development and pretest of a content analytic category scheme for objectively measuring the sexiness of women's business attire in media presentations. Finds the television samples significantly more provocative than real world attire. Finds a significant positive correlation between the degree of sexiness as measured by the content…

Used computer simulations to examine effectiveness of different criteria for measuring infant visual habituation. Found that a criterion based on fitting a second-order polynomial regression function to looking-time data produced more accurate estimation of looking times and higher power for detecting novelty effects than did the traditional…

This project piloted a rapid assessment self-report measurement to be used with child and adolescent sexual abuse victims to ascertain the effectiveness of counseling. Results from 103 girls ages 10-17 years who had been victims of intrafamilial abuse suggest high test reliability, but content and discriminant validity of the test remain…

Boys with (n=16) and without (n=18) intellectual disability (ID) performed the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) on two separate occasions. Comparable levels of reliability and agreement were found on the WAnT for both groups. However, the performances of boys with ID were more variable, less powerful, and resulted in lower post-exercise blood lactose…

Describes a preliminary study using the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-Adolescent Form (SASSI-A) as an outcome measure with adolescent offenders. The SASSI-A's primary purpose is to evaluate substance abuse irrespective of the adolescent's defensiveness. Results indicate that the SSASI-A can be successfully used as a treatment planning…

The relationship between racial identity development and multicultural counseling competency across a 2-year period of time was examined in this study. Significant increases were found in multicultural counseling competency but not in their levels of racial identity development across time. Possible explanations for and limitations of this…

Conducted a data quality substudy in conjunction with the School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2000 to assess the quality of study questionnaires. Validity of state and district level questionnaires was examined via telephone interviews with original respondents. A test-retest reliability of the school and classroom level…

Assesses the reliability and validity of the Web-based version of the Career Key. Participants completed the Web-based version of the Career Key and the Self-Directed Search-Form R and completed a second Career Key administration 2 weeks later. Test-retest reliability ranged between .75 and .84. With the exception of the conventional scale, all…

The Chinese Perceived Causes of Poverty Scale (CPCPS), constructed to assess how Chinese people explain poverty, covers four areas of explanations: personal problems, lack of opportunities, exploitation, and bad fate. Chinese secondary school students were administered the CPCPS. Four subscales were abstracted from their responses and found to be…