A brief overview is provided of the Conger-Lipshitz approach to estimating the reliability of a profile or test battery. A computational example from a recent study shows how canonical reliability can be obtained through existing statistical software. (SLD)

The reliability of residual scores created in the analysis of covariance in pretest-posttest designs, adjusted for a singe covariate, is compared with that of simple difference scores as relevant parameters vary. Little gain in reliability is created by analysis of covariance, which also suffers from reliability problems. (SLD)

The phimax adjustment to phi (Pearson's product moment correlation applied to binary data) is explored. Phi/phimax is shown to be a measure of relationship apart from its affiliation with phi. The relations between phi/phimax and kappa and limitations of phi/phimax are discussed. (SLD)

Correlations of National Teacher Examination (NTE) Core Battery scores and college grade point average (GPA) with a measure of teaching effectiveness for 493 first-year teachers indicate that the correlation is higher for GPA than for the Core Battery. NTE core scores do not predict effectiveness better than GPA alone. (SLD)

A study involving 102 high school students (49 males and 53 females) from Taiwan revealed that the order of response scale labels had a primacy effect on subjects' choices of the alternatives in Likert-type attitude scales. Practical implications of the response-order effects for measurement are discussed. (SLD)

A reanalysis of the intercorrelation matrix from a principal components analysis of the Life Styles Inventory was conducted using a Canadian sample. Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling, analyses show an almost perfect circumplex pattern. Results illustrate the inadequacy of factor analytic procedures for the analysis and representation of a…

Selection criteria at a graduate school of business were examined in a study evaluating the predictive validity of the Graduate Management Admissions Test and the Miller Analogies Test for 203 recent graduates. Implications of the correlations between test results and grade point average for admission policy are discussed. (SLD)

The degree to which statistical item selection reduces direction-of-wording effects in balanced affective measures developed from relatively small item pools was investigated with 171 male and 228 female undergraduate and graduate students at 2 U.S. universities. Clearest direction-of-wording effects result from selection of items with high…

In a university salary prediction study of 75 faculty members, years of service acted as a negative suppressor variable. The suppressor effect was interpreted as salary compression, or the failure of the organization to recognize seniority with adequate compensation increases while meeting market values for new hires. (SLD)

Kendall's Tau is often considered equivalent to Spearman's Rho as an ordinal measure of correlation in spite of its different metric. Formulas for converting Tau to Rho are reviewed; and a table of corresponding values is presented for Tau, Rho, and several related indices. (SLD)

Primary and second-order principal components analyses were performed on the Quality of School Life Scale (QSL), a measure of elementary school climate, for responses of 141 fourth through sixth graders. Findings suggest three general factors, but item composition of subscales differs somewhat from that proposed by the QSL's developers. (SLD)

Studied concurrent and construct validities of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) (English translation of a scale developed in French) with 107 male and 110 female junior college students in Montreal (Canada) who completed the AMS and other motivation assessments. Findings support both concurrent and construct validity of the AMS. (SLD)

The reliability and validity of the revised California Psychological Inventory's (CPI) Vector 1 scale, a measure of introversion and extraversion, were studied with 345 college students (109 males and 236 females). Results support the scale as a valid measure of the introversion-extraversion construct of H. G. Gough. (SLD)

Maximized correlation as an internal reliability estimate for tests with few items was investigated. An actual sampling distribution of maximum correlation--"r" max--was empirically derived from 100 samples of 50 cases each from Rorschach test data and compared with those of alpha and an odd/even split, using 2,020 Rorschach protocols.…

A causal model of halo error (HE) is derived. Three hypotheses are formulated to explain findings of negative HE. It is suggested that apparent negative HE may have been misinferred from existing correlational measures of HE, and that positive HE is more prevalent than had previously been thought. (SLD)