This reference introduces an innovative new-employee safety risk model, keyed to a typical new worker becoming acclimated to a new job and workplace. It reviews risk factors, their root causes, and how they can be addressed and minimized through targeted strategies at each stage of a worker's early months on the job. The model and its supporting findings dovetail with current thinking on employee safety and organizational accountability. And, of extra benefit to employers, the risk management strategies to improve new employee safety can be undertaken with minimal expenditure of time, money, and disruption. The book's real-world framework: * Analyzes high accident rates among new hires. * Describes four basic types of job applicants and safety concerns common to each. * Examines the role of recruitment and selection processes in promoting employee safety. * Discusses safety benefits and risks surrounding pre-start training. * Models the use of new employees' job familiarization to minimize safety risks. * Identifies safety risks associated with helping behaviors. * Identifies employee measures that can be used in assessing job safety risk. * Integrates safety management strategies with other human resource management activities New Employee Safety provides clear practical guidance to individuals involved in occupational safety management. The book makes a useful text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on occupational safety management, and in fields such as behavioral science, psychology, business management, and human resources.

"Situational Judgment Tests" advances the science and practice of SJTs by promoting a theoretical framework, providing an understanding of best practices, and establishing a research agenda for years to come. Currently, there is no other source that provides such a comprehensive treatment of situational judgment testing. Key features of this book include:
*chapters rich with theoretical insights and future research possibilities;
*numerous implications for improving the practical applications of SJTs, which include not only SJT development and scoring, but also operational issues affecting test administration and interpretation;
*comprehensive summaries of published and unpublished SJT research; and
*chapters that address topics that are timely and current, such as issues involving the international application of SJTs and technological considerations.
This text is relevant for academics, practitioners, and students of human resource management, organizational behavior, management, andindustrial/organizational psychology. This book is new in  SIOP's Organizational Frontiers Series, publications of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Through a multi-methodology approach, Principles and Methods of Social Research, Fourth Edition covers the latest research techniques and designs and guides readers toward the design and conduct of social research from the ground up. Applauded for its comprehensive coverage, the breadth and depth of content of this new edition is unparalleled. Explained with updated applied examples useful to the social, behavioral, educational, and organizational sciences, the methods described are relevant to contemporary researchers. The underlying logic and mechanics of experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental research strategies are discussed in detail. Introductory chapters cover topics such as validity and reliability furnish readers with a firm understanding of foundational concepts. The book has chapters dedicated to sampling, interviewing, questionnaire design, stimulus scaling, observational methods, content analysis, implicit measures, dyadic and group methods, and meta-analysis to cover these essential methodologies. Notable features include an emphasis on understanding the principles that govern the use of a method to facilitate the researcher’s choice of the best technique for a given situation; use of the laboratory experiment as a touchstone to describe and evaluate field experiments, correlational designs, quasi experiments, evaluation studies, and survey designs; and coverage of the ethics of social research including the power a researcher wields and tips on how to use it responsibly. The new edition features: Increased attention to the distinction between conceptual replication and exact replication and how each contributes to cumulative science. Updated research examples that clarify the operation of various research design operations. More learning tools including more explanation of the basic concepts, more research examples, and more tables and figures, such as additional illustrations to include internet content like social media. Extensive revisions and expansions of all chapters. A fuller discussion of the dangers of unethical treatment to research participants. Principles and Methods of Social Research, Fourth Edition is intended for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses in research methods in psychology, communication, sociology, education, public health, and marketing, and further appeals to researchers in various fields of social research, such as social psychology and communication.

A focused look at the usesand misusesof psychological tests in the context of child custody This book presents an advanced examination of psychological testing and usage in the child custody arena. It addresses test selection issues, provides insightful discussions of how to confront confirmatory biases and avoid the distortion of test findings, and presents clear instructions for the use of specific tests, including MMPI-2 and Rorschach, and a point/counterpoint discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ackerman-Schoendorf Scales for Parent Evaluation of Custody (ASPECT). Psychological Testing in Child Custody Evaluations can be viewed as a work in three parts. The first section addresses theoretical and test usage issues, with chapters focusing on: addressing test selection issues from legal and psychological perspectives bias issues that interfere with the evaluator's ability to collect and consider data objectively a functional, comprehensive approach to the use of psychological tests in a child custody evaluationwith a conceptual framework for choosing assessment techniques to assess parenting competencies and other variables important in forming opinions about custodial placement and visitation access, and a practical example of how to present psychological test data in an advisory report to the court a look at psychological testing from an attorney's point of view The second section of Psychological Testing in Child Custody Evaluations focuses on the MMPI-2 and the Rorschach Inkblot Test in the child custody context, investigating hypotheses that can be inferred from the MMPI-2 regarding parenting behaviors, and the use and value of the Rorschach. This section examines: the foundation from which the MMPI-2 can generate expectations regarding five basic issuesthe quality of attachment and bonding, potential for antisocial behavior, temper control, alienation of affection, and chemical abuse and dependence the range of variables that will generate useful hypotheses regarding parent-child interactions and family systems the effects of the circumstances of litigation on score elevationsincluding recommended limits as to how much elevation can be dismissed as only contextual the important differences between occasion validity and attribute validity the clinical application of an objective interpretation system, including the courtroom credibility of explicit convergent validity the use of the Rorschach in child custody evaluations findings from a study using the Rorschach to address specific parenting variables The third section of Psychological Testing in Child Custody Evaluations is a focused point-counterpoint discussion of ASPECT, between test creator Marc J. Ackerman and Mary Connell, President of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. This book is essential reading for child custody evaluators, family law attorneys, and judges practicing in the family law arena, as well as educators and students in these fields.

Although most people believe that there is little we can do to improve the intelligence we were born with, the brain can be exercised just like any other part of the body. Thought processes and intelligence scoring can be improved by practising different types of testing. This title from IQ expert Philip Carter is a companion volume to the bestselilng IQ and Psychometric Tests, and it includes not only hundreds of practice questions, but also answers but explanations. The broader format allows space for writing answers and making notes, and readers are provided with feedback so that they can assess their own strengths and weaknesses. Topics covered include: verbal aptitude tests, numerical aptitude tests, visual aptitude tests, problem solving tests, personality questionnairesm and advice on adopting the right approach to psychometric testing. The IQ and Psychometric Test Workbook provides an ideal opportunity for anyone to improve their IQ rating, or individual performance at psychometric tests, through continual practice and self-assessment.

Statistical Concepts-A Second Course presents the last 10 chapters from An Introduction to Statistical Concepts, Fourth Edition. Designed for second and upper-level statistics courses, this book highlights how statistics work and how best to utilize them to aid students in the analysis of their own data and the interpretation of research results. In this new edition, Hahs-Vaughn and Lomax discuss sensitivity, specificity, false positive and false negative errors. Coverage of effect sizes has been expanded upon and more organizational features (to summarize key concepts) have been included. A final chapter on mediation and moderation has been added for a more complete presentation of regression models. In addition to instructions and screen shots for using SPSS, new to this edition is annotated script for using R. This book acts as a clear and accessible instructional tool to help readers fully understand statistical concepts and how to apply them to data. It is an invaluable resource for students undertaking a course in statistics in any number of social science and behavioral science disciplines.

Statistical Concepts-A First Course presents the first 10 chapters from An Introduction to Statistical Concepts, Fourth Edition. Designed for first and lower-level statistics courses, this book communicates a conceptual, intuitive understanding of statistics that does not assume extensive or recent training in mathematics and only requires a rudimentary knowledge of algebra. Covering the most basic statistical concepts, this book is designed to help readers really understand statistical concepts, in what situations they can be applied, and how to apply them to data. Specifically, the text covers basic descriptive statistics, including ways of representing data graphically, statistical measures that describe a set of data, the normal distribution and other types of standard scores, and an introduction to probability and sampling. The remainder of the text covers various inferential tests, including those involving tests of means (e.g., t tests), proportions, variances, and correlations. Providing accessible and comprehensive coverage of topics suitable for an undergraduate or graduate course in statistics, this book is an invaluable resource for students undertaking an introductory course in statistics in any number of social science and behavioral science disciplines.

For decades, The Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM)--the most popular of the projective tests--has been routinely employed for personality assessment and treatment planning. But in recent years, it has not been free from controversy. Criticisms of its validity and empirical support are catalyzing new efforts to strengthen its foundations and document its broad utility. Among the most common--yet also most confusing and challenging--categories of clinical disorders is the personality disorders. However, minimal data have been available on the RIM evaluation of most of those found in DSM-IV. This welcomed book constitutes the first research-grounded, comprehensive guide to the use of the RIM in assessing personality disorders. The first section offers a theoretical overview of personality disorders and constructs a framework and compelling rationale for the legitimate role of the RIM in their assessment. The second, third, and fourth sections present Cluster A disorders--paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal; Cluster B disorders--antisocial and psychopathic, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic; and Cluster C disorders--avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive. The fifth section presents passive aggressive and depressive personality disorders, currently being proposed for DSM inclusion. Each chapter in these four sections includes an extensive description of the disorder, a review of empirical studies of the use of the RIM to assess it, an analysis of the Rorschach variables that may characterize patients diagnosed with it, and a depiction of a real case and discussion of the ways in which the RIM contributed to its formulation. The sixth and final section explores the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and the RIM. Rorschach Assessment of the Personality Disorders brings practical help for clinicians and clinicians-in-training, and suggests new paths for researchers seeking to advance our understanding of the complexities of these disorders.

This book provides an introduction to test equating, scaling and linking, including those concepts and practical issues that are critical for developers and all other testing professionals. In addition to statistical procedures, successful equating, scaling and linking involves many aspects of testing, including procedures to develop tests, to administer and score tests and to interpret scores earned on tests. Test equating methods are used with many standardized tests in education and psychology to ensure that scores from multiple test forms can be used interchangeably. Test scaling is the process of developing score scales that are used when scores on standardized tests are reported. In test linking, scores from two or more tests are related to one another. Linking has received much recent attention, due largely to investigations of linking similarly named tests from different test publishers or tests constructed for different purposes. In recent years, researchers from the education, psychology and statistics communities have contributed to the rapidly growing statistical and psychometric methodologies used in test equating, scaling and linking. In addition to the literature covered in previous editions, this new edition presents coverage of significant recent research.

In order to assist researchers, advanced graduate students and testing professionals, examples are used frequently and conceptual issues are stressed. New material includes model determination in log-linear smoothing, in-depth presentation of chained linear and equipercentile equating, equating criteria, test scoring and a new section on scores for mixed-format tests. In the third edition, each chapter contains a reference list, rather than having a single reference list at the end of the volume

The themes of the third edition include:

* the purposes of equating, scaling and linking and their practical context

* data collection designs

* statistical methodology

* designing reasonable and useful equating, scaling, and linking studies

* importance of test development and quality control processes to equating

* equating error, and the underlying statistical assumptions for equating

This book is in celebration of the seminal work of Roderick P. McDonald whose career has spanned over forty years and three continents. His work in factor analysis, structural modeling, multivariate analysis, and test theory has inspired the research of many of the leading scholars in these fields. All of the book's cutting edge chapters are contributions from Rod's former students, fellow researchers, and/or long time friends. Contemporary Psychometrics features four diverse sections: test theory, factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and multivariate analysis. All of the chapters address key issues in psychometrics using the most contemporary methods possible. The section on test theory includes topics such as multidimensional item response theory (IRT), the relationship between IRT and factor analysis, estimation and testing of these models, and a reflection on basic measurement issues that are often neglected. The factor analysis section reviews the history and development of the model, factorial invariance and factor analysis indeterminacy, and Bayesian inference for factor scores and parameter estimates. latent variable SEM, a survey of goodness of fit assessment, SEM resampling methods, a discussion of how to compare correlations between and within independent samples, the psychological processes with dynamic factor models based on ARMA time series models, and multi-level factor analysis models for continuous and discrete data. The final section on multivariate analysis includes topics such as dual scaling of ordinal data, model specification and missing data problems in time series models, and concludes with a discussion of the themes that run through all multivariate methods. The tour de force through contemporary psychometrics will appeal to advanced students and researchers in the social and behavioral sciences and education, as well as methodologists from other disciplines.

Wertsch argues against reductionist accounts of human cognition and proposes a sociocultural perspective, which moves beyond the isolated individual. He suggests that "mediated action" and cultural tools shape cognitive processes and can explain how they are organized.

Exner's Comprehensive System has attracted so much attention in recent years that many clinicians and personality researchers are unaware that alternative Rorschach scoring systems exist. This is unfortunate, because some of these systems have tremendous clinical value. Scoring the Rorschach: Seven Validated Systems provides detailed reviews of the best-validated alternative approaches, and points to promising new paths towards the continued growth and refinement of Rorschach interpretation. The editors set the stage with an extended introduction to historical controversies and cutting-edge empirical methods for Rorschach validation. Each chapter presents a different Rorschach scoring system. A brief history is followed by detailed information on scoring and interpretation, a comprehensive summary of evidence bearing on construct validity, and discussion of clinical applications, empirical limitations, and future directions. A user-friendly scoring "manual" for each system offers readers practical guidance. The systems tap a broad array of content areas including ego defenses, thought disorder, mental representations of self and others, implicit motives, personality traits, and potential for psychotherapy. All psychologists seriously engaged in the work of personality assessment will find in this book welcome additions to their professional toolkits.

This "Essential Handbook" provides the critical elements from its companion volume, the successful Handbook of Offender Assessment and Treatment. A comprehensive review of assessment and treatment, it covers the major offender groups: sex offenders, violent offenders, offenders with mental and personality disorders, and property offenders. A range of treatment approaches are also included, incorporating behavioural, cognitive, skills-based, anger management, school programmes, and family-based approaches.

Whilst retaining its international, high quality appeal, The Essential Handbook of Offender Assessment and Treatment is a concise, portable edition for all clinicians, academics and researchers working with offenders across a range of settings.

Created with the input of a distinguished International Board of the foremost authorities in data mining from academia and industry, "The Handbook of Data Mining" presents comprehensive coverage of data mining concepts and techniques. Algorithms, methodologies, management issues, and tools are all illustrated through engaging examples and real-world applications to ease understanding of the materials.
This book is organized into three parts. Part I presents various data mining methodologies, concepts, and available software tools for each methodology. Part II addresses various issues typically faced in the management of data mining projects and tips on how to maximize outcome utility. Part III features numerous real-world applications of these techniques in a variety of areas, including human performance, geospatial, bioinformatics, on- and off-line customer transaction activity, security-related computer audits, network traffic, text and image, and manufacturing quality.
This "Handbook" is ideal for researchers and developers who want to use data mining techniques to derive scientific inferences where extensive data is available in scattered reports and publications. It is also an excellent resource for graduate-level courses on data mining and decision and expert systems methodology.

The development of communication as a discipline has resulted in an explosion of scales tapping various aspects of interpersonal, mass, organizational, and instructional communication. These scales are scattered across a bewildering array of journals, books, dissertations, and research reports--a situation that often hinders awareness and use of particular measures. Intended as a partial remedy to the situation, this sourcebook brings together a variety of scales that measure a number of important communication constructs. The scales presented are drawn from areas of interpersonal, mass, organizational, and instructional communication--areas in which the use of formal, quantitative scales is particularly well developed. "Communication Research Measures" reflects the recent important emphasis on developing and improving the measurement base of the communication discipline. It results in an equal amount of labor saved on the part of the scholars, students, and practitioners who find this book useful, and it contributes in a significant way to research efforts.
Originally published by Guilford Press in 1994, now available from LEA.

The "Handbook of Research Methods in Clinical Psychology" presents a comprehensive and contemporary treatment of research methodologies used in clinical psychology. Topics discussed include experimental and quasi-experimental designs, statistical analysis, validity, ethics, cultural diversity, and the scientific process of publishing. Written by leading researchers, the chapters focus on specific applications of research into psychopathology, assessment and diagnosis, therapy, and interventions for both child and adult populations. Special attention is also given to research into professional issues, prevention, and promotion. Research vignettes describe exemplary projects illustrating the essential elements of the research topics. In addition, the editors outline a research agenda for clinical psychologists that demonstrates the exciting future for the field.

This handbook coherently illustrates the range of research methodologies used in clinical psychology and is a vital resource for both students and scholars who wish to expand their knowledge.
Covers basic methodologies as well as specific applications of research designs.
Includes research vignettes that describe exemplary studies and illustrate the essential elements of the research topics.
Contains chapters written by active researchers in the field.
Outlines a research agenda for clinical psychologists that demonstrates the exciting future for the field.
Now available in full text online via xreferplus, the award-winning reference library on the web from xrefer. For more information, visit www.xreferplus.com

Originally published in 1976, the authors of six of the most widely quoted works in behavioural science related to education, at the time, here describe in detail their research work, including its origins, planning and implementation. The accounts are unusual, not only for their technical detail but for their candour. The brief was to put the heart and brains back into accounts of research so the authors comment not only on the research design, but on the personal and professional problems they had to overcome. They also reflect on the reception of their work, and the way in which it has been adapted, misunderstood or deliberately distorted to support arguments of widely differing ideological pressure groups. The book shows how ingenuity and persistence as well as technical competence lie at the heart of the research process. The authors do not give the normal depersonalised, streamlined account which gives a false, mechanical picture of research as an occupation, but show it to be a profound personal and professional experience as they comment on the thought that lay behind their work and the way it was finally produced for publication. Dr Shipman has written a short introduction to each chapter, and contributed a concluding chapter relating the six research experiences to conventional views on the research process and to the part played by research evidence in policy making.

Selection for secondary education at 11-plus still arouses widespread controversy; and the psychological techniques which are employed, such as intelligence and attainments tests, are often criticised. Originally published in 1957, under the auspices of the British Psychological Society, a group of psychologists, experienced in this field, tried to present a balanced survey of the situation at the time. They show that the real problems of secondary schooling cannot be solved by simple administrative changes; they arise from historical causes, from the class structure of English society and the educational and vocational ambitions of parents. Psychology has studied the development and differentiation of children's abilities and interests with age, and thus throws light on the need for, and the consequences of, streaming children in different classes or schools, and the value of alternative systems such as the comprehensive school. Selection at 11-plus, it is admitted, does have harmful effects on teaching in the junior school and produces much emotional strain, though these effects are often exaggerated. It was, in fact, accurate for some ninety per cent of children; yet the implications of its inevitable inaccuracy for some pupils cannot be ignored. The functions, and the value, of intelligence and attainments tests and the essay are examined, and full consideration given to the use of teachers' estimates of suitability and other techniques. The Report is addressed primarily to teachers, educational administrator, and psychologists - that is people with some background knowledge of the problems involved; but it should also be intelligible and helpful to the educated layman, since the more technical details are confined to Appendices.

This invaluable resource presents a state-of-the-art account of the psychology of pain from leading researchers. It features contributions from clinical, social, and biopsychological perspectives, the latest theories of pain, as well as basic processes and applied issues. The book opens with an introduction to the history of pain theory and the epidemiology of pain. It then explores theoretical work, including the gate control theory/neuromatrix model, as well as biopsychosocial, cognitive/behavioral, and psychodynamic perspectives. Issues, such as the link between psychophysiological processes and consciousness and the communication of pain are examined. Pain over the life span, ethno-cultural, and individual differences are the focus of the next three chapters. Pain: Psychological Perspectives addresses current clinical issues: * pain assessment and acute and chronic pain interventions; * the unavailability of psychological interventions for chronic pain in a number of settings, the use of self-report, and issues related to the implementation of certain biomedical interventions; and * the latest ethical standards and the theories. Intended for practitioners, researchers, and students involved with the study of pain in fields such as clinical and health psychology, this book will also appeal to physicians, nurses, and physiotherapists. Pain is ideal for advanced courses on the psychology of pain, pain management, and related courses that address this topic.

Contents:
Strategic Therapy. Ethnicity Issues in Strategic Therapy. Strategic Therapy with Couples. Family Therapy at a Distance - a Case of Depression. Changing a Violent Family. Compulsory Therapy - a Case of Violence. Paradox and Play with Children: The Boy Who can't stop Fighting. Mother Daughter Incest. Cultural Confusions: How Many Clients are in One Body? A Positive Approach with Psychotic Couples. Appendix A: Case Report: How to Unbalance a Couple. Appendix B: Supplemental.

MATLAB Blues is an accessible, comprehensive introduction to the MATLAB computer programming language-a powerful and increasingly popular tool for students and researchers. Rosenbaum identifies many of the common mistakes and pitfalls associated with using MATLAB, and shows users how they can learn from these mistakes to be better, happier programmers. Each chapter systematically addresses one of the basic principles of the programming language, like matrices, calculations, contingencies, plotting, input-output, and graphics, and then identifies areas that are problematic, as well as potential errors that can occur. This not only provides the reader with the fundamental "scales and chords" that a MATLAB programmer needs to know, but also with a series of examples and explanations of how to avoid and remedy common mistakes. Accompanied by an array of sample code that can be used and manipulated in conjunction with the textbook, this book is a practical, insightful introduction to MATLAB which provides motivation and encouragement to those with little or no background in programming as well as to those with more advanced concerns. It is an invaluable resource for researchers and students undertaking courses in research methods, statistics, and programming.

Behavioral medicine has now matured as a field to the point where all recognize that different populations are presented with different issues. Psychological reactions and patterns affect the health and well-being of children, as well as adults, and numerous standardized instruments for the assessment of a variety of areas of children's functioning are currently available. Yet, it can be difficult for practitioners and researchers searching through general compendia of resources for child assessment--which are frequently focused on general techniques rather than specific instruments--to identify the optimal ones to meet their particular needs and to choose among them.
This practical and comprehensive reference guide is the first to sort, present, and review all the measures that can be used to evaluate the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects of children's health. It organizes the measures under eight general headings, such as quality of life, adherence, pain management, and patient satisfaction. Each chapter begins with a leading authority's overview of the underlying theoretical construct and any concerns about how to measure it. Descriptions and reviews of relevant instruments follow; these include information on administration, scoring, psychometric properties, and ordering, as well as comments by the instruments' developers.
"Assessing Children's Well-Being: A Handbook of Measures" will be welcomed by all those professionals and scientists who seek to assess and effectively address the complex interactions between physical health and mental health in children.

Collecting and analyzing data on unemployment, inflation, and inequality help describe the complex world around us. When published by the government, such data are called official statistics. They are reported by the media, used by politicians to lend weight to their arguments, and by economic commentators to opine about the state of society. Despite such widescale use, explanations about how these measures are constructed are seldom provided for a non-technical reader. This Measuring Society book is a short, accessible guide to six topics: jobs, house prices, inequality, prices for goods and services, poverty, and deprivation. Each relates to concepts we use on a personal level to form an understanding of the society in which we live: We need a job, a place to live, and food to eat. Using data from the United States, we answer three basic questions: why, how, and for whom these statistics have been constructed. We add some context and flavor by discussing the historical background. This book provides the reader with a good grasp of these measures. Chaitra H. Nagaraja is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University in New York. Her research interests include house price indices and inequality measurement. Prior to Fordham, Dr. Nagaraja was a researcher at the U.S. Census Bureau. While there, she worked on projects relating to the American Community Survey.

A special issue of the Peabody Journal of Education looking at contemporary issues in psychological and educational assessment.

When a person recovers a memory of an event from their past for which they claim little or no previous awareness, how reliable is that memory?

In this refreshing new approach to the problem, Graham Davies and Tim Dalgleish have assembled leading figures from both sides of the debate to provide a balanced overview of the evidence from theoretical and clinical psychologists.

Recovered Memories: Seeking the Middle Ground, unlike most other writing on the topic, eschews extreme positions. It provides clinicians with findings from the latest research to enhance their understanding of memory and presents pure researchers with a range of experiences encountered in clinical practice for which they presently have few explanations.

Organised around three themes, social, evidential and clinical aspects are covered. Topics include the impact on family and community members, the latest findings on implanted memories and discussion of clinical guidelines for therapeutic practice.

This important new collection should not be missed by anyone with an interest in memory, whether engaged in a clinical, legal, child protection, family welfare or experimental research capacity. It is the most authoritative and comprehensive review of the evidence on both sides available to date.