Arguing that relevance judgments are fundamental to the design and evaluation of all information retrieval systems, and that a consensus on the definition of the central concept of relevance has not been reached, this paper begins by critically reviewing four approaches to the problem of defining relevance: (1) the system-oriented approach…

In 1976, the Association of American Medical Colleges developed a map-like model to describe the global picture of the U.S. medical school similarities with respect to two loosely defined concepts: an institutional emphasis on research and an emphasis on clinical and graduate medical training. This study is an attempt to replicate the results of…

This paper examines the current state of voir dire procedures (the process in which prospective jurors are questioned about possible prejudgment or bias) used to detect racial attitudes in court cases involving black defendants and compares voir dire questions allowed and disallowed by the court. Data based upon an assessment of racial attitudes…

A detailed description is provided of the variable teacher job satisfaction (JOBSAT), which is part of the analysis in phase I of the Evaluation of Practices in Individualized Schooling. The variable is defined; the questionnaires on which the variable is based are listed; the procedures used to scale the variable are explained; the distribution…

One of the major assumptions of latent trait theory is that the items in a test measure a single dimension. This report describes an investigation of procedures for forming a set of items that meet this assumption. Factor analysis, nonmetric multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis and latent trait analysis were applied to simulated and real…

This paper discusses a longitudinal, exploratory study of developmental dimensions related to object permanence theory and explains how multidimensional scaling techniques can be used to identify developmental dimensions. Eighty infants, randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups and one of four counterbalanced orders of stimuli, were…

Measures of achievement in reading and mathematics following implementation of different curricular programs for disadvantaged pupils in the New Orleans system are compared. Programs implemented in Grades 4 through 7 include: (1) no compensatory programs; (2) traditional compensatory programs; (3) PLAN (Programmed Learning in Accordance with…

The question of whether test factor structure is indicative of the test item hierarchy was examined. Data from 1,000 subjects on two sets of five bivalued Law School Admission Test items, which were analyzed with latent trait methods of Bock and Lieberman and of Christoffersson in Psychometrika, were analyzed with an ordering-theoretic method to…

Investigated are the multidimensional differences in freshman perceptions and experience of the academic and nonacademic aspects of college associated with varying amounts of informal contact with faculty. Discriminant analysis indicated that factor dimensions, termed Interest Value and Practical Appeal, best distinguished between groups of…

To describe and to develop instruments to measure attitudes toward amputees, the blind, and those with cosmetic conditions, three groups of subjects responded to one of three large pools of items tapping attitudes toward the three disability conditions. Three new groups of about 500 subjects of diverse demographic characteristics were given one of…

The single most important output of any school is probably the magnitude of its students' growth in academic achievement. A variety of standardized tests has been developed to measure aspects of this achievement; however, only recently have administrators attempted to use such tests to help review and make decisions about educational programs.…

This study was undertaken to illustrate the application of a multidimensional individual-differences approach to credibility judgments as an alternative to factor analysis. Judgments of aspirants to the presidency of the United States were specifically studied. Ten stimulus-persons, varying in sex, political affiliation, and (apparent) ideology,…

The adequacy of using a combination of criterion-scaled non-school variables to predict achievement score means of schools is discussed. Non-school data gathered on eighth-grade students were criterion-scaled, using the total score of the Metropolitan Achievement Test. Eight non-school category scores and actual achievement scores of selected…

This study investigated (1) relationships between reading comprehension, IQ, and equivalence range (ER) and (2) categorizing styles through multidimensional scaling and varimax rotation analysis. One hundred and six male and 97 female sixth-graders comprised three reading groups according to Metropolitan Achievement Test, Reading subtest, and Otis…

Indicates that membership in pausing and skimming clusters appears to relate to text comprehension, grade level, and rated academic ability, but that these relationships are not all simple or direct. Finds that the cluster-analytic approach provides a useful empirical adjunct to current theoretical perspectives on text analysis and reading…