Two quasiexperimental designs--nonequivalent dependent variable and reversed treatment designs--illustrate pattern matching logic as a basis for evaluation, examining college health services. Three pattern matches are significant: (1) program pattern match indicates implementation; (2) measurement match assesses test validity; and (3) effect…

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to derive the dimensions underlying student ratings of instruction. A weighted MDS revealed that departmental affiliation, course structure, and intensity of teaching were particularly salient to the raters. The findings are discussed in light of the current literature on student ratings of instruction.…

The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate three online pretest item calibration/scaling methods in terms of item parameter recovery when the item responses to the pretest items in the pool would be sparse. The three methods considered were the marginal maximum likelihood estimate with one EM cycle (OEM) method, the marginal maximum…

This article examines the implications of the shift, in England and Wales, from the previous National Curriculum assessment model based on the assessment of performance in relation to statements of attainment, to a model based on level descriptions founded on the recommendations of R. Dearing (1994). Both models reflect a common sense view that…

A study was proposed to determine to what extent a hierarchical structure exists in music and in tests used to measure music ability. The first research question was whether items in the Watkins-Farnum Performance Scale (J. Watkins and S. Farnum, 1954) (WFPS) form a hierarchy, so that early exercises (bars played) are generally easier than later…

Correspondences between ACT[superscript TM] and SAT[superscript R] I scores are presented from a conceptual framework that distinguishes among three kinds of correspondences, namely, equating, scaling, and prediction. Construct similarity plays an important role in determining the nature and degree of correspondence that can be achieved. This…

Reports results of a comparison of correlational and multidimensional scaling techniques as tools for analyzing the perceptions of three groups of mathematics teachers (at high school, vocational school, and university levels) of the relative importance of curricular objectives. Discusses the relationship of the two analyses and the implications…

Analyses of students' responses to Students' Evaluation of Education Quality (collected 4,471 courses) focused on two interrelated issues: the multidimensionality of student ratings and their susceptibility to bias. (Author/PN)

Empirical results from two studies--a simulation study and an experimental one--indicated that, in achievement data of the problem-solving type where a specific subject matter area is being tested, the greater the variety of the algorithms used, the higher the dimensionality of the test data. (Author/PN)

Examines the definition of journal coverage overlap in abstracting and indexing services during the past 30 years of research and expands the definition using a matrix of dissimilarity values. Multidimensional scaling analysis is applied to graphically demonstrate this definition and a naive secondary tool selection algorithm is presented. (43…

Uses multidimensional scaling and clustering analysis of the co-citation patterns of 58 authors to explore the intellectual organization of population genetics and related specialties. Concludes that co-cited author mapping, with the author as the unit of analysis, is likely to complement studies of informal communication networks. (SR)

A generalized Rasch model is presented for measuring attitudes; it is based on the concepts of Thurstone's method of successive intervals. Benefits of the model are illustrated with a study of students' (N=4,035 fifth through ninth graders) interest in physics. (SLD)

Used homogeneity analysis and latent class analysis to analyze sexual behavior patterns in two samples of homosexually active men. Results support the existence of a single, nonlinear, latent dimension underlying male homosexual behaviors consistent with HIV-related risk taking, providing an efficient means to scale sexual behavior patterns. (RJM)

Summarizes findings from a study that used multidimensional scaling to examine the inherent complexity of vocational aspirations as a measurement construct. Uncovered the perceptual dimensions underlying college students' expressions of vocational aspirations when these aspirations were distinguished as preferences and as expectations.…

Two sets of real sorting data from 50 college students are used to compare results of multidimensional scaling of raw co-occurrence frequencies or dissimilarity measures (D) and profile distances (delta) to determine which yields a better representation of the underlying structure of 2 sets of stimuli. Slight differences are discussed. (SLD)