Purpose: The purpose of the study was to empirically test items of a new measure designed to assess person-directed care (PDC) practices in long-term care. Design and Methods: After reviewing the literature, we identified five areas related to PDC: personhood, comfort care, autonomy, knowing the person, and support for relationships. We also…

According to Altbach in 2004, "everyone wants a world-class university". Corresponding developmental efforts undertaken by higher education institutions are very often referenced to improvements in ranking results. Surprisingly, there is relatively little analysis of variations in higher education ranking systems across countries…

This discourse-based study turns its attention to paired test-taker discourse in the First Certificate in English speaking test. Its primary aim is to focus on fundamental conversation management concepts, such as overall structural organisation, turn-taking, sequencing, and topic organisation found in the dyadic test-taker interaction in 30 pairs…

In two studies, the authors investigated 2- and 3-year-old children's awareness of the normative structure of conventional games. In the target conditions, an experimenter showed a child how to play a simple rule game. After the child and the experimenter had played for a while, a puppet came (controlled by a 2nd experimenter), asked to join in,…

The sample specific nature of reliability is often overlooked in substantive research, with investigators frequently referencing reliability estimates from previous studies as the basis for presuming the score integrity for their data. The purpose of the current study was to examine this practice, known as reliability induction, across studies…

Background: The purpose of this study was to revise and validate the "Individual Child Engagement Record" (ICER), an instrument designed to observe and measure the engagement of children with disabilities in early childhood settings. Method: The ICER was revised with reference to pilot study results and the literature. Inter-observer…

Using insights from ethnographic studies of conservative Protestant congregations, the authors propose and test a refined conceptual model of theological conservatism that accounts for three key components of a theologically conservative worldview: (1. epistemology, a belief in the Bible as the inspired word of God, (2. ontology, assumptions about…

This paper reports the development of a research instrument to examine the expectations and self-perceptions of employability of business undergraduates (bachelor degree students) in three UK universities, and examines relationships with other measures. The scale was found to have a satisfactory internal reliability coefficient for an untested…

We examined the validity and reliability of a self-report outcome measure for children between the ages of 8 and 11. The Ohio Scales Problem Severity scale is a brief, practical outcome measure available in three parallel forms: Parent, Youth, and Agency Worker. The Youth Self-Report form is currently validated for children ages 12 and older. The…

Beyond reasonable doubt represents a probability value that acts as the criterion for conviction in criminal trials. I introduce the membership function (MF) method as a new tool for measuring quantitative interpretations of reasonable doubt. Experiment 1 demonstrated that three different methods (i.e., direct rating, decision theory based, and…

This article provides a review of Roberts-2, an individually administered narrative measure published by Western Psychological Services. Roberts-2 is a substantial revision of the earlier version of this measure, the Roberts Apperception Test for Children (RATC; McArthur & Roberts, 1982). Roberts-2 is composed of 16 stimulus cards that direct…

This article uses the case of designing a new course questionnaire to discuss the issues of validity, reliability and diagnostic power in good questionnaire design. Validity is often not well addressed in course questionnaire design as there are no straightforward tests that can be applied to an individual instrument. The authors propose the…

Background: Despite recent and heightened concern about the marketing of food to children as a health issue, there is little previous research describing the product packaging characteristics of specific products intensely marketed to children. Purpose: In order to better understand food marketing tactics targeting children, the purpose of this…

Wilson asserts that the quest for absolute objectivity in scoring student writing--including the use of rubrics--creates harmful distance between reader and writer and ignores the unique, transactional characteristics of writing. She puts forth the view of Rosenblatt and other literacy theorists that meaning and value of texts are not rigidly…

This study establishes the reliability and validity of the Law Enforcement Officer Stress Survey (LEOSS), a short early-warning stress-screening measure for law enforcement officers. The initial phase of LEOSS development employed the behavioral-analytic model to construct a 25-item instrument specifically geared toward evaluation of stress in…