This book provides an alternative method for measuring individual differences in psychological, educational, and other behavioral sciences studies. It is based on the assumptions of ordinal statistics as explained in Norman Cliff's 1996 "Ordinal Methods for Behavioral Data Analysis." It provides the necessary background on ordinal measurement to permit its use to assess psychological and psychophysical tests and scales and interpret the data obtained. The authors believe that some of the behavioral measurement models used today do not fit the data or are inherently self-contradictory. Applications of these models can therefore lead to unwarranted inferences regarding the status of the derived variables. These methods can also be difficult to apply, particularly in small-sample contexts without making additional, unrealistic assumptions. Ordinal methods more closely reflect the original data, are simple to apply, and can be used in samples of any size. The book's approach is in essence a return to simple empiricism in psychological measurement.
"Ordinal Measurement in the Behavioral Sciences" provides:
*methods for analyzing test responses;
*extensive discussions of ordinal approaches to analyzing data that are judgments of stimuli;
*methods for treating psychological data in ways consistent with its ordinal nature so as to stimulate new developments in this area; and
*ordinal test theory and the unfolding methods that are applicable to cross-cultural studies.
Advanced students, researchers, and practitioners concerned with psychological measurement should find this book relevant. Measurement professionals will find it provides useful and simple methods that stimulate thought about measurement's real issues.

This edited volume presents a balanced approach to the ongoing debate of just how general the "general factor" of intelligence is. To accomplish this goal, the editors chose a number of distinct approaches to the study of intelligence--psychometric, genetic-epistemological, cognitive, biological, behavior-genetic, sociocultural, systems--and asked distinguished scholars to write from the standpoint of these approaches. Each approach comprises two chapters, one by a scholar leaning toward a view arguing for the greater generality of "g," and the other by a scholar leaning toward a view arguing for the lesser generality of "g." The scholars are not simply "for" or "against" these outlooks, rather they provide a more textured view of the general factor, attempting to explain it in psychological terms that are easily understandable.
Intended for psychologists in all areas, including clinical, consulting, educational, cognitive, school, developmental, and industrial-organizational, this book will also be of interest to educators, sociologists, anthropologists, and those interested in the nature of intelligence.

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret a variety of storytelling techniques

Storytelling techniques are a popular projective approach for assessing many aspects of a person's personality, such as cognitive processes, emotional functioning, and self-regulation. The broad spectrum of techniques includes the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT--the most widely embraced), Roberts-2, and TEMAS (Tell-Me-A-Story). To use these tests properly, professionals need an authoritative source of advice and guidance on how to administer, score, and interpret them. Written by Hedwig Teglasi, a leading researcher of the TAT and other storytelling techniques, "Essentials of TAT and Other Storytelling Assessments, Second Edition" is that source.

Like all the volumes in the "Essentials of Psychological Assessment" series, this book is designed to help busy mental health professionals, and those in training, quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of major psychological assessment instruments. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Fully revised and updated to reflect the current research supporting storytelling techniques, "Essentials of TAT and Other Storytelling Assessments," "Second Edition" reflects the latest data and theory on scoring stories and includes new material on interpreting stories in reference to a person's abilities in cognition, emotion, relationships, motivation, and self-regulation. As well, the author provides expert assessment of the methods' relative strengths and weaknesses, valuable advice on their clinical applications, and several case studies to illustrate best practices for implementing the storytelling approach to personality assessment.

Other titles in the "Essentials of Psychological Assessment" series:

Essentials of Assessment Report Writing

Essentials of PAI Assessment

Essentials of 16PF Assessment

Essentials of Neuropsychological Assessment, Second Edition

Essentials of MillonTM Inventories Assessment, Third Edition

Essentials of Rorschach Assessment

Essentials of MMPI-2 Assessment

Essentials of MMPI-A Assessment

Designing and Implementing Effective Evaluations provides extensive real-life examples of program evaluations that illustrate the various elements and steps in conducting a successful evaluation. The detailed and diverse range of case studies show the common elements, methods, approaches, and processes of program evaluations, while also demonstrating the way that good evaluators adapt and tailor those methods to the specific characteristics and needs of a given program. The chapters explore the process of problem solving while navigating multiple stakeholders, competing agendas, and varying environments. The book introduces conversations concerning how to adapt evaluation processes and concepts with culturally different individuals and communities. It discusses the role of culture in navigating a meaningful evaluation process when significant cultural differences exist between the evaluator and individuals that make up the organization. The text is a vital resource for postgraduate students in program evaluation courses in Psychology, Education, Public Health, Social Work and related fields.

This book proposes and explores the idea that the forced union of the aleatory and epistemic aspects of probability is a sterile hybrid, inspired and nourished for 300 years by a false hope of formalizing inductive reasoning, making uncertainty the object of precise calculation. Because this is not really a possible goal, statistical inference is not, cannot be, doing for us today what we imagine it is doing for us. It is for these reasons that statistical inference can be characterized as a myth. The book is aimed primarily at social scientists, for whom statistics and statistical inference are a common concern and frustration. Because the historical development given here is not merely anecdotal, but makes clear the guiding ideas and ambitions that motivated the formulation of particular methods, this book offers an understanding of statistical inference which has not hitherto been available. It will also serve as a supplement to the standard statistics texts. Finally, general readers will find here an interesting study with implications far beyond statistics. The development of statistical inference, to its present position of prominence in the social sciences, epitomizes a number of trends in Western intellectual history of the last three centuries, and the 11th chapter, considering the function of statistical inference in light of our needs for structure, rules, authority, and consensus in general, develops some provocative parallels, especially between epistemology and politics.

This proceedings volume highlights the latest research and developments in psychometrics and statistics. It represents selected and peer-reviewed presentations given at the 85th Annual International Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS), held virtually on July 13-17, 2020. The IMPS is one of the largest international meetings on quantitative measurement in education, psychology and the social sciences. It draws approximately 500 participants from around the world, featuring paper and poster presentations, symposiums, workshops, keynotes, and invited presentations. Leading experts and promising young researchers have written the included chapters. The chapters address a wide variety of topics including but not limited to item response theory, adaptive testing, Bayesian estimation, propensity scores, and cognitive diagnostic models. This volume is the 9th in a series of recent works to cover research presented at the IMPS.

Many psychological factors are little more than statistical descriptions of particular sets of data and have no real significance. Paul Kline uses his long and extensive knowledge of psychological measurement to argue that truly scientific forms of measurement could be developed to create a new psychometrics. This would transform the basis of psychology and change it from a social science to a pure science.

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This proceedings volume highlights the latest research and developments in psychometrics and statistics. It represents selected and peer reviewed presentations given at the 84th Annual International Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS), organized by Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and held in Santiago, Chile during July 15th to 19th, 2019. The IMPS is one of the largest international meetings on quantitative measurement in education, psychology and the social sciences. It draws approximately 500 participants from around the world, featuring paper and poster presentations, symposiums, workshops, keynotes, and invited presentations. Leading experts and promising young researchers have written the included chapters. The chapters address a large variety of topics including but not limited to item response theory, multistage adaptive testing, and cognitive diagnostic models. This volume is the 8th in a series of recent volumes to cover research presented at the IMPS.

Assessing Competencies for Social and Emotional Learning explores the conceptualization, development, and application of assessments of competencies and contextual factors related to social and emotional learning (SEL). As programs designed to teach students social and emotional competencies are being adopted at an ever-increasing rate, new measurements are needed to understand their impact on student attitudes, behaviors, and academic performance. This book integrates standards of fairness, reliability, and validity, and lessons learned from personality and attitude assessment to facilitate the principled development and use of SEL assessments. Education professionals, assessment developers, and researchers will be better prepared to systematically develop and evaluate measures of social and emotional competencies.

This book focuses on the latest developments in behaviormetrics and data science, covering a wide range of topics in data analysis and related areas of data science, including analysis of complex data, analysis of qualitative data, methods for high-dimensional data, dimensionality reduction, visualization of such data, multivariate statistical methods, analysis of asymmetric relational data, and various applications to real data. In addition to theoretical and methodological results, it also shows how to apply the proposed methods to a variety of problems, for example in consumer behavior, decision making, marketing data, and social network structures. Moreover, it discuses methodological aspects and applications in a wide range of areas, such as behaviormetrics; behavioral science; psychology; and marketing, management and social sciences. Combining methodological advances with real-world applications collected from a variety of research fields, the book is a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners, as well as for applied statisticians and data analysts.

This volume addresses an important problem in social scientific research on global religions and spirituality: How to evaluate the role of diverse religious and spiritual (R/S) beliefs and practices within the rapid evolution of spiritual globalization and diversification trends. The book examines this question by bringing together a panel of international scholars including psychologists, sociologists, and researchers in religious studies, public health, medicine, and social work. The content includes chapters describing innovative concepts of post-Christian spirituality, Eastern forms of meditation, afterlife beliefs associated with the three dominant cultural legacies, various non-religious worldviews, spiritual Jihad, and secular and religious reverence. The book also covers such important themes as spiritual well-being, faith, struggle, meaning making, modeling, and support, as well as mysticism and using prayer to cope with existential crises. This book advances the understanding of the role of R/S across different faiths and cultural systems, including both Western and non-Western ones, and enriches the mainstream of psychological sciences and practices. It appeals to students, educators, researchers, and clinicians in multiple related fields and disciplines.

This book critically examines the historical and philosophical foundations of construct validity theory (CVT), and how these have and continue to inform and constrain the conceptualization of validity and its application in research. CVT has had an immense impact on how researchers in the behavioural sciences conceptualize and approach their subject matter. Yet, there is equivocation regarding the foundations of the CVT framework as well as ambiguities concerning the nature of the "constructs" that are its raison d'etre. The book is organized in terms of three major parts that speak, respectively, to the historical, philosophical, and pragmatic dimensions of CVT. The primary objective is to provide researchers and students with a critical lens through which a deeper understanding may be gained of both the utility and limitations of CVT and the validation practices to which it has given rise.

Why are some people more mentally able than others ? In an authoritative, critical and intergrated series of review essays Professor Ian Deary inquires after the cognitive and biological foundations of human mental ability differences. Many accounts of intelligence have examined the structure and number of human mental ability differences and whether they can predict sucess in education,work and social life. Few books have taken psychometric intelligence differences as a starting point and brought together the reductionistic attempts to explain them.New to the highly acclaimed Oxford Psychology Series, Looking Down on Human Intelligence appraises the search for the origins of psychometric intelligence differences in terms of brain function parameters. The book provides an original and thought provoking guide to ancient and modern research on one of the most compelling questions in human psychology.

This book focuses on the use of the Rasch measurement model in validation studies and in analyzing the psychometric properties of a variety of test instruments, questionnaires, and scales in international contexts. It broadly examines the development and application of Rasch modeling, providing in-depth analyses of the properties of various scales used in the fields of education, and humanities and social sciences research. The book includes exemplary works on educational research and practices that highlight recent and innovative applications, as well as theoretical and practical aspects of Rasch modeling. Readers will find it helpful to understand the latest approaches to Rasch measurement in educational research, as well as practices for future studies and quantitative research. 'This book provides a diverse set of perspectives on Rasch models from scholars across the globe. The volume is both theoretical and applied. The first section of the book provides an overview of Rasch modeling and explains the theoretical and conceptual framework underlying the Rasch model. The remainder of the book highlights multiple applications of the Rasch model within educational assessment as well as several examples of how Rasch modeling can be used for validation studies. This volume showcases the wide variety of ways in which Rasch modeling can be applied to assessment data to provide insights into students' achievement and learning and to improve instruction.'-Betsy McCoach, University of Connecticut, USA. 'A well-written collection of articles. Grouped by the theoretical and applied aspects of Rasch measurement, each chapter in this edited volume makes notable contributions to knowledge and practice. Written by leading scholars in the field, these chapters were written in a clear, succinct, and assertive manner, providing readers with up-to-date information, analyses, and debates. This book should be found in the core collection of emerging researchers and established scholars in educational measurement.'-Timothy Teo, Murdoch University, Australia.

Richly illustrates the practice of programme theory driven evaluation with contemporary examples alongside the most recent advances in theory. Contains self-reflective chapters to allow the reader/novice evaluator to engage with and critique their own work. An excellent introduction to the basic concepts and approaches of theory-driven evaluation.

-Offers a straightforward, detailed guide to how to ensure success of cross-border research projects and interventions, based on decades of experiences in many cultures, as well as meticulous research and documentation. -Accessibly written and illustrated with real examples and case studies of projects, and covers key topics including project management, cultural considerations, handling crises and threats, and successful implementation and dissemination. -Ideal for researchers and project managers - from large, global organisations to small NGOs, as well as university students and academics.

Investigative Interviewing: Adopting a Forensic Mindset is a straight-forward, practical textbook outlining proper interview planning and techniques, detailing all relevant case law concerning confessions. Being a forensic professional infers that investigator apply the highest standards in collecting, analyzing, preserving, and presenting evidence to a court of law or other tribunals. The author contends that the key to a proper forensic interviewing methodology is the elimination of the term "interrogation," and the confession-obtaining mindset it creates. Forensic interviewers can achieve all interview objectives, including truthful confessions that stand up to the scrutiny of the courts and public opinion, by adhering to best-practice, ethical standards. What transpires during the interview must stand up to the scrutiny of the courts and public opinion. In this regard, due process, documenting the procedure, and practicing proven, effective techniques is paramount to getting to the truth-the ultimate goal of any investigation. The book addresses important issues in the field such as false confessions, due to its criticality and frequent occurrences of this. Coverage also includes the desired qualities of an investigative interviewer and strategies to break down barriers and gain trust with reluctant, uncooperative, and hostile interviewees. Proper report writing, an underrated key to any interview and investigation, is addressed in detail. Lastly. the book provides training on best practice interview steps and strategies to lead the interviewee to the truth. Numerous case examples, and transcripts of real interviews, are provided illustrate real-world interviewing practices and concepts. Features includes: Examines the human factor in the qualities of a good investigative interviewer such as understanding the offender and strategies to gain the interviewees trust Shares practical experience and best practices, noting traditional pitfalls and mistakes that can impede the truth and lead to false confessions Discusses legal considerations, case law, and the intent behind entering an interview situation with a forensic mindset, prioritizing due process and documenting procedure Presents a notable and extensive case study that includes six informative interviews denoting effective techniques in practice Provides pedagogical elements including chapter learning objectives and end of chapter review with discussion questions Investigative Interviewing: Adopting a Forensic Mindset promotes legal and ethical investigative interviewing methods and is a welcome addition to the literature for use in forensic science and criminal justice curricula and programs.

This book examines the principles and practice of authentic assessment. It seeks to answer the following questions. What is authentic assessment? How is authentic assessment different from 'performance assessment' or 'alternative assessment'? How can authentic assessment support learner-centred education, especially when a performance-oriented culture favours pen-and-paper examinations? The book is structured into two major parts. The first, 'Principles of authentic assessment design', provides readers with a conceptual explanation of authenticity; the principles for designing quality authentic assessments for valid evidence of student learning; and guidance about how to develop quality rubrics to structure assessment tasks. The second part of the book, 'Theory into practice' provides examples developed by teachers to demonstrate an understanding of authentic assessment. The subject areas covered include humanities, languages, mathematics, sciences, character and citizenship. Two case studies are discussed to demonstrate how authentic assessment can be used to comprehensively address key learning objectives in a variety of curriculum contexts. This book provides practitioners with concrete examples on how to develop authentic assessment to suit their context and also enhance their students' learning. The book will also enable teachers to face assessment challenges present in our changing world. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com

This book summarizes a range of new analytic tools for multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data. Providing an expository yet accessible approach to cutting-edge developments for MTMM analysis, a selection of quantitative researchers reveal their recent contributions to the field including non-technical summaries and empirical examples. The contributions inform quantitative social scientists of some of the most cutting-edge developments for MTMM analysis. A range of developments have emerged over the past decade for MTMM analyses, and this book presents these novel additions to the quantitative community as a cohesive narrative. This book makes these recent MTMM contributions accessible to applied researchers (most MTMM innovations are presented in less approachable journals for applied researchers) by providing non-technical summaries and empirical examples. This book will serve as a stepping stone for applied researchers seeking to adopt MTMM analysis into their program of research, and will be relevant to researchers, both within a professional and academic context, across the social and behavioral sciences.

Innovative Learning Analytics for Evaluating Instruction covers the application of a forward-thinking research methodology that uses big data to evaluate the effectiveness of online instruction. Analysis of Patterns in Time (APT) is a practical analytic approach that finds meaningful patterns in massive data sets, capturing temporal maps of students' learning journeys by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Offering conceptual and research overviews, design principles, historical examples, and more, this book demonstrates how APT can yield strong, easily generalizable empirical evidence through big data; help students succeed in their learning journeys; and document the extraordinary effectiveness of First Principles of Instruction. It is an ideal resource for faculty and professionals in instructional design, learning engineering, online learning, program evaluation, and research methods.

The History of Educational Measurement collects essays on the most important topics in educational testing, measurement, and psychometrics. Authored by the field's top scholars, this book offers unique historical viewpoints, from origins to modern applications, of formal testing programs and mental measurement theories. Topics as varied as large-scale testing, validity, item-response theory, federal involvement, and notable assessment controversies complete a survey of the field's greatest challenges and most important achievements. Graduate students, researchers, industry professionals, and other stakeholders will find this volume relevant for years to come.

Scholars of psychology Embretson (U. of Kansas) and Reise (U. of California-Los Angeles) explains the psychometric method that is increasingly being used for contemporary psychological tests. Their treatment would be especially useful to psychologists and social scientists familiar with small-scale cognitive and personality measures, or those who want to use the theory to analyze scales used in their own research. They use concepts that would be known to graduates and practitioners of psychology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) This book develops an intuitive understanding of IRT principles through the use of graphical displays and analogies to familiar psychological principles. It surveys contemporary IRT models, estimation methods, and computer programs. Polytomous IRT models are given central coverage since many psychological tests use rating scales. Ideal for clinical, industrial, counseling, educational, and behavioral medicine professionals and students familiar with classical testing principles, exposure to material covered in first-year graduate statistics courses is helpful. All symbols and equations are thoroughly explained verbally and graphically. Item Response Theory (IRT) is increasingly the psychometric method used for contemporary psychological tests. The goal of this book is to explain IRT. The book is especially useful to psychologists and other social scientists who are familiar with small scale cognitive and personality measures, or to those who want to use IRT to analyze scales used in their own research. It is also useful for graduate students and practitioners who want to understand the contemporary psychometric foundations of the tests that they administer. Familiar psychological concepts are used to help explain various IRT principles. The book develops an intuitive understanding of IRT principles through the use of graphical displays and analogies to psychological principles. The

The History of Educational Measurement collects essays on the most important topics in educational testing, measurement, and psychometrics. Authored by the field's top scholars, this book offers unique historical viewpoints, from origins to modern applications, of formal testing programs and mental measurement theories. Topics as varied as large-scale testing, validity, item-response theory, federal involvement, and notable assessment controversies complete a survey of the field's greatest challenges and most important achievements. Graduate students, researchers, industry professionals, and other stakeholders will find this volume relevant for years to come.

Originally published in 1972, there were many 'classics' dealing with assessment and testing on the market at the time, but most of these left the inexperienced reader bewildered in the early stages, because of their size and insufficient explanation of the many technical terms used. There were a distinct lack of books which gave students in Colleges of Education dealing with psychology for the first time a simple explanation of basic terms in assessment and testing, and which introduced them briefly to the different types of tests available. Assessment and Testing aimed to fill this large gap. It looks at such key psychological terms as 'sample', 'objectivity', 'subjectivity', and such basic statistical terms such as 'mean', 'standard deviation', and 'normal curve of distribution'. Because it assumes that the reader has no knowledge of such terms, it gives careful and simply illustrated explanations of each. In the same way, in simple language, with any technical terms explained and illustrated, it explains intelligence and personality tests, questionnaires, sociometric measures, projection techniques, and other areas of assessment and testing which every practising teacher will meet. The book aims to be essentially practical. It is appreciated all the time that the readers are those who will teach children. It is designed to provide a solid foundation upon which the reader can build later to augment his own experience of identifying children's particular needs.