Nikolaus Bezruczko - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Nikolaus Bezruczko
Journal of physics, Jul 1, 2010
Social researchers commonly compute ordinal raw scores and ratings to quantify human aptitudes, a... more Social researchers commonly compute ordinal raw scores and ratings to quantify human aptitudes, attitudes, and abilities but without a clear understanding of their limitations for scientific knowledge. In this research, common ordinal measures were compared to higher order linear (equal interval) scale measures to clarify implications for objectivity, precision, ontological coherence, and meaningfulness. Raw score gains, residualized raw gains, and linear gains calculated with a Rasch model were compared between Time 1 and Time 2 for observations from two early childhood learning assessments. Comparisons show major inconsistencies between ratings and linear gains. When gain distribution was dense, relatively compact, and initial status near item mid-range, linear measures and ratings were indistinguishable. When Time 1 status was distributed more broadly and magnitude of change variable, ratings were unrelated to linear gain, which emphasizes problematic implications of ordinal measures. Surprisingly, residualized gain scores did not significantly improve ordinal measurement of change. In general, raw scores and ratings may be meaningful in specific samples to establish order and high/low rank, but raw score differences suffer from nonuniform units. Even meaningfulness of sample comparisons, as well as derived proportions and percentages, are seriously affected by rank order distortions and should be avoided.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2016
Dependence of the bit error rate on the signal power and length of a singlechannel coherent singl... more Dependence of the bit error rate on the signal power and length of a singlechannel coherent single-span communication line (100 Gbit s-1) with polarisation division multiplexing N V Gurkin, V A Konyshev, O E Nanii et al.-Linearisation and moire problems in computer-generated holographic optical elements with grey-level modulation
The Journal of rheumatology, 2000
Although radiographs are an important marker of rheumatoid arthritis severity, no valid simple sc... more Although radiographs are an important marker of rheumatoid arthritis severity, no valid simple scoring method exists. Current scoring systems are cumbersome, difficult to learn, time consuming, and suitable only for experts. In addition, there is no "gold standard" for radiographic severity, so that it is impossible for the clinician, trialist, or researcher to place patients' scores along a continuum of radiographic severity. We investigated the scoring and scaling properties of radiographs read by the Larsen method, and we developed a shortened scale that can be placed in the perspective of a linear severity continuum. A total of 3,538 paired hand radiographs obtained over a 24 year period were read by Larsen method and evaluated by Rasch analysis. By iterative methods the number of joints was reduced so that proper fitting, scaling, and dimensionality were obtained. The shortened scale was then tested against the full Larsen scale to determine its ability to detect ...
Psychology & Neuroscience, 2016
Despite many neuroaesthetic studies of aesthetic appreciation and sensitivity among laypersons, v... more Despite many neuroaesthetic studies of aesthetic appreciation and sensitivity among laypersons, virtually nothing is known about artistic judgment (AJ) aptitude. Voxelbased MRI methods were implemented to identify brain structures associated with AJ aptitude, which was parameterized with stochastic images derived from 2 visual preference factors (Complexity and Redundancy) and originally validated by professional artists. Current research pursued 3 goals: (a) identify brain structures associated with AJ aptitude, (b) clarify convergence with neuroaesthetic studies, and (c) examine aptitude consistency with artistic production (drawing, painting, and sketching). These goals address an overarching question of whether AJ aptitude is centered in a dedicated module or functions in a distributed network. Image pairs were presented to 40 laypersons, for whom high scores corresponded to professional artist preference. Then, Complexity and Redundancy standard scores were correlated with regional gray matter volume. Results showed significantly greater gray matter density for Complexity in 21 brain regions and asymmetrical consolidation lateralized to the right hemisphere, whereas Redundancy was much weaker. AJ aptitude expression and layperson visual arts appreciation were found to converge on a common neuroaesthetic network, but modest lateralization suggests certain brain sites are unique to AJ aptitude.
Two studies compared the visual preferences, cognitive abilities, and occupational interests of a... more Two studies compared the visual preferences, cognitive abilities, and occupational interests of artists and nonartists. Study One compared scores on an experimental battery of artistic judgment tests for three groups: professional artists, Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation examinees in art-related professions, and Foundation examinees not in those fields. Study Two compared the two groups of Foundation examinees on the standard Foundation battery and the interest scales of the Career Occupational Preference System (COPS). In Study One, the artists and nonartists differed significantly on all tests in the experimental battery. On the Barron-Welsh Art Scale (BWAS), the professional artists scored significantly higher than a nonartist sample studied previously. In Study Two, on the standard battery tests, artists scored 1;ignificantly higher than nonartists in Inductive Reasoning,
Journal of outcome measurement
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the measurement properties of the Symptom Impact Invento... more The purpose of this study is to evaluate the measurement properties of the Symptom Impact Inventory using both psychometric and Rasch analyses. This inventory is designed for generally healthy midlife women. The sample included 340 midlife women aged 45-65 representing two studies. The first study involved Black and White employed sedentary women (n = 161) who volunteered for a walking intervention. The second study of migration and health included women who were recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union (n = 179). The women reported experiencing an average of 13.44 symptoms (S.D.=7.88) with a range of 1 to 32. Principal components analysis identified 5 components in this sample. Rasch measurement analysis found excellent model fit for the Symptom Impact Inventory with only 2 symptoms, Decreased appetite and Decreased sexual desire or interest, unstable in scale dimensionality analyses. Person and item parameters were reliable, and comparisons with groups known to differ on sym...
Journal of School Psychology, 1999
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2010
Symptoms of internalizing disorders (depression, anxiety, somatic, trauma) are the major risk fac... more Symptoms of internalizing disorders (depression, anxiety, somatic, trauma) are the major risk factors for suicide. Atypical suicide risk is characterized by people with few or no symptoms of internalizing disorders. Objective-In persons screened at intake to alcohol or other drug (AOD) treatment, this research examined whether person fit statistics would support an atypical subtype at high risk for suicide that did not present with typical depression and other internalizing disorders. Methods-Symptom profiles of the prototypical, typical, and atypical persons, as defined using fit statistics, were tested on 7,408 persons entering AOD treatment using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN; Dennis, 2003). Results-Of those with suicide symptoms, the findings were as expected with the atypical group being higher on suicide and lower on symptoms of internalizing disorders. In addition, the atypical group was similar or lower on substance problems, symptoms of externalizing disorders, and crime and violence.
Visual Arts Research, 2011
This research examines measurability, statistical interrelationships and association with test IQ... more This research examines measurability, statistical interrelationships and association with test IQ, and cultural robustness of several artistic judgment dimensions. Symmetry, Simplicity, Uniformity, and Expressiveness dimensions had been previously validated in a comprehensive study of professional artists and studied in Chicago with children of diverse cultural background. The fifth dimension, the Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity Test (VAST), rests on much weaker validity foundations but was included in this research because of wide use among empirical arts researchers. Cross-cultural comparison of these dimensions has never been reported. The study sample is a culturally homogeneous group of native Lisbon schoolchildren (modal age = 10 years, N = 48). Results showed adequate psychometric reliability for all dimensions (>.80) except VAST (.57). Means were statistically indistinguishable between Portuguese and American children on Simplicity and Uniformity, which support their aptitud...
Drawing is writing . . .”, Sulzby, 1992 The visual arts have a unique status in the evolution of ... more Drawing is writing . . .”, Sulzby, 1992 The visual arts have a unique status in the evolution of humanity and civilization. “The capacity to use symbols, to appreciate the beauty of objects, and to create them, marked a significant turning point in the evolution of Homo sapiens”. A milestone in understanding this phylogentic progression is the discovery of stochastic generative mechanisms, which are fundamental to the creative arts, and in this research, they were linked to early literacy development of young children. Central premise here is children use a recursive cognitive mechanism to link representational drawings to abstract conceptual systems, which generates new knowledge. How do children leap from drawings to new concepts? This research looked at young children’s drawings to infer cognitive changes as they invented literacy concepts. Semiotic theory is proposed to describe the generative mechanism that transforms spoken language through drawings into early literacy. Empiri...
Journal of Applied Measurement, 2012
Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are autoimmune rheu... more Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are autoimmune rheumatic diseases that are difficult for physicians to diagnose and to distinguish for a variety of reasons. The correct classification of these two diseases is a crucial issue for clinicians who treat autoimmune rheumatic diseases. In prior research, medical risk factors represented by instrument or laboratory measures and physician judgments (12 key features for MCTD and 12 key features for SLE) were parameterized with a one parameter logistic function in a Rasch model. Those results identified separate diagnostic dimensions for MCTD and SLE. This procedure was replicated in the present research with a sample of largely African American and Hispanic patients. Results verified separate dimensions for MCTD and SLE, which suggests MCTD is a separate disease from SLE.
Journal of Applied Measurement, 2003
An empirical strategy is presented for transforming ordinal counts and percentages to interval sc... more An empirical strategy is presented for transforming ordinal counts and percentages to interval scale measures by recoding them as ordered categories and estimating Rasch model rating scale parameters. This strategy is demonstrated for a neighborhood construct socioeconomic disadvantage operationally defined by eight characteristics of Chicago neighborhoods (N = 77). Results show surprisingly sound model fit and satisfactory scale invariance between 1980 and 1990 census. A striking finding obscured by traditional methods is many Chicago neighborhoods are four times more disadvantaged than official U.S. poverty threshold. Intramodel construct validation confirms this scale structure is consistent with sociological expectations about property values, income, and race. A general benefit of this approach over conventional categorical socioeconomic indices is neighborhood measurement on a linear scale.
Journal of Applied Measurement, 2006
This research examined empirical evidence for a new construct, Functional Caregiving, which is a ... more This research examined empirical evidence for a new construct, Functional Caregiving, which is a theory about mothers' caregiving of their adult children with intellectual disabilities. A sample of 108 biological mothers and primary caregivers rated survey items about their confidence to perform caregiving tasks. Rasch rating scale analysis found 61 items defined an empirical construct with three caregiving levels: Advocacy, Personal Caregiving, and Community. Results show item separation was 3.11 with high reliability, .91, and mother separation was 2.93 and reliability, .90. Both items and mothers showed adequate INFIT and OUTFIT values. Item invariance was confirmed between older and younger mothers, and principle components analysis of item residuals did not reveal any major dimensionality threats. Item decomposition analysis showed FC content theory to account for 58 percent of item calibration variance (R2 = .58, F = 42.3, p < .001). These results have important practic...
Journal of applied measurement, 2016
Journal of applied measurement, 2011
The purpose of this research was to develop an objective, linear measure of mothers' confiden... more The purpose of this research was to develop an objective, linear measure of mothers' confidence to care for children assisted with tracheostomy medical technology in their homes. Caregiver confidence is addressed in this research for three technologies, namely, a) trachesotomy, b) tracheostomy and ventilator, and c) BiPAP/CPAP although detailed measurement results are only reported for tracheostomy, and its co-calibration with tracheostomy and ventilator caregiving items. The sample consisted of 53 mothers responding to several caregiver questionnaires based on a caregiving task matrix after content and clinical validation. A major challenge was integrating this construct with overarching principles already established by Functional Caregiving, a multi-level humanistic caregiving model for children with intellectual disabilities. Empirical analyses included principal components analysis, and then linear transformation of Tracheostomy item ratings to an objective, equal-interval ...
Journal of applied measurement, 2010
Psychosocial measurement in the 21st Century is a dynamic field that is addressing challenges unt... more Psychosocial measurement in the 21st Century is a dynamic field that is addressing challenges unthinkable even a generation ago. Sophisticated methods and modern technology has brought psychometrics to the cusp of scientific objectivity. This Foreword provides historical context and intellectual foundations for appreciating contemporary psychometric advancements, as well as a perspective on issues that are determining future advances. Efficiency in outcome measurement is one of these forces driving future advances. Efficiency, however, can easily become conflated with expediency, and neither can substitute for effectiveness. Blind efficiency runs risk of degrading measurement properties. Likewise, measurement advancement without accommodation to ordinary needs leads to practical rejection. Bouchard presents a biographical link between scientific physics and Rasch models that opened the door for fundamental psychosocial measurement. Symposium papers presented in this issue present a ...
Journal of applied measurement, 2016
Does effective instruction, which changes students' knowledge and possibly alters their cogni... more Does effective instruction, which changes students' knowledge and possibly alters their cognitive functions, also affect the dimensionality of an achievement test? This question was examined by the parameterization of kinesiology test items (n = 42) with a Rasch dichotomous model, followed by an investigation of dimensionality in a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental study design. College students (n = 108) provided responses to kinesiology achievement test items. Then the stability of item difficulties, gender differences, and the interaction of item content categories with dimensionality were examined. In addition, a PCA/t-test protocol was implemented to examine dimensionality threats from the item residuals. Internal construct validity was investigated by regressing item content components on calibrated item difficulties. Measurement model item residuals were also investigated with statistical decomposition methods. In general, the results showed significant student achiev...
The stat;.lity of bias estimates from J. Schueneman's chi-square method, the transformed Delt... more The stat;.lity of bias estimates from J. Schueneman's chi-square method, the transformed Delta method, Rasch's one-parameter residual analysis, and the Mantel-Haenszel procedure, were compared across small and large samples for a data set of 30,000 cases. Bias values for 30 samples were estimated for each method, and means and variances of item bias were computed across all the samples, for comparisons contrasting sample size, sex, and race. The point estimates of item bias, based on 30 replications for each method, were also correlated across random samples, and classification techniques compared the results for agreement. The results showed that none of the methods consistently flagged more or fewer items as biased, though at the larger sample sizes the Mantel-Haenszel and Rasch methods were particularly sensitive at detecting item bias and in high agreement. Reliabilities of the Modified Delta method were generally lower than the others, as 'were the correlations betw...
Journal of physics, Jul 1, 2010
Social researchers commonly compute ordinal raw scores and ratings to quantify human aptitudes, a... more Social researchers commonly compute ordinal raw scores and ratings to quantify human aptitudes, attitudes, and abilities but without a clear understanding of their limitations for scientific knowledge. In this research, common ordinal measures were compared to higher order linear (equal interval) scale measures to clarify implications for objectivity, precision, ontological coherence, and meaningfulness. Raw score gains, residualized raw gains, and linear gains calculated with a Rasch model were compared between Time 1 and Time 2 for observations from two early childhood learning assessments. Comparisons show major inconsistencies between ratings and linear gains. When gain distribution was dense, relatively compact, and initial status near item mid-range, linear measures and ratings were indistinguishable. When Time 1 status was distributed more broadly and magnitude of change variable, ratings were unrelated to linear gain, which emphasizes problematic implications of ordinal measures. Surprisingly, residualized gain scores did not significantly improve ordinal measurement of change. In general, raw scores and ratings may be meaningful in specific samples to establish order and high/low rank, but raw score differences suffer from nonuniform units. Even meaningfulness of sample comparisons, as well as derived proportions and percentages, are seriously affected by rank order distortions and should be avoided.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2016
Dependence of the bit error rate on the signal power and length of a singlechannel coherent singl... more Dependence of the bit error rate on the signal power and length of a singlechannel coherent single-span communication line (100 Gbit s-1) with polarisation division multiplexing N V Gurkin, V A Konyshev, O E Nanii et al.-Linearisation and moire problems in computer-generated holographic optical elements with grey-level modulation
The Journal of rheumatology, 2000
Although radiographs are an important marker of rheumatoid arthritis severity, no valid simple sc... more Although radiographs are an important marker of rheumatoid arthritis severity, no valid simple scoring method exists. Current scoring systems are cumbersome, difficult to learn, time consuming, and suitable only for experts. In addition, there is no "gold standard" for radiographic severity, so that it is impossible for the clinician, trialist, or researcher to place patients' scores along a continuum of radiographic severity. We investigated the scoring and scaling properties of radiographs read by the Larsen method, and we developed a shortened scale that can be placed in the perspective of a linear severity continuum. A total of 3,538 paired hand radiographs obtained over a 24 year period were read by Larsen method and evaluated by Rasch analysis. By iterative methods the number of joints was reduced so that proper fitting, scaling, and dimensionality were obtained. The shortened scale was then tested against the full Larsen scale to determine its ability to detect ...
Psychology & Neuroscience, 2016
Despite many neuroaesthetic studies of aesthetic appreciation and sensitivity among laypersons, v... more Despite many neuroaesthetic studies of aesthetic appreciation and sensitivity among laypersons, virtually nothing is known about artistic judgment (AJ) aptitude. Voxelbased MRI methods were implemented to identify brain structures associated with AJ aptitude, which was parameterized with stochastic images derived from 2 visual preference factors (Complexity and Redundancy) and originally validated by professional artists. Current research pursued 3 goals: (a) identify brain structures associated with AJ aptitude, (b) clarify convergence with neuroaesthetic studies, and (c) examine aptitude consistency with artistic production (drawing, painting, and sketching). These goals address an overarching question of whether AJ aptitude is centered in a dedicated module or functions in a distributed network. Image pairs were presented to 40 laypersons, for whom high scores corresponded to professional artist preference. Then, Complexity and Redundancy standard scores were correlated with regional gray matter volume. Results showed significantly greater gray matter density for Complexity in 21 brain regions and asymmetrical consolidation lateralized to the right hemisphere, whereas Redundancy was much weaker. AJ aptitude expression and layperson visual arts appreciation were found to converge on a common neuroaesthetic network, but modest lateralization suggests certain brain sites are unique to AJ aptitude.
Two studies compared the visual preferences, cognitive abilities, and occupational interests of a... more Two studies compared the visual preferences, cognitive abilities, and occupational interests of artists and nonartists. Study One compared scores on an experimental battery of artistic judgment tests for three groups: professional artists, Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation examinees in art-related professions, and Foundation examinees not in those fields. Study Two compared the two groups of Foundation examinees on the standard Foundation battery and the interest scales of the Career Occupational Preference System (COPS). In Study One, the artists and nonartists differed significantly on all tests in the experimental battery. On the Barron-Welsh Art Scale (BWAS), the professional artists scored significantly higher than a nonartist sample studied previously. In Study Two, on the standard battery tests, artists scored 1;ignificantly higher than nonartists in Inductive Reasoning,
Journal of outcome measurement
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the measurement properties of the Symptom Impact Invento... more The purpose of this study is to evaluate the measurement properties of the Symptom Impact Inventory using both psychometric and Rasch analyses. This inventory is designed for generally healthy midlife women. The sample included 340 midlife women aged 45-65 representing two studies. The first study involved Black and White employed sedentary women (n = 161) who volunteered for a walking intervention. The second study of migration and health included women who were recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union (n = 179). The women reported experiencing an average of 13.44 symptoms (S.D.=7.88) with a range of 1 to 32. Principal components analysis identified 5 components in this sample. Rasch measurement analysis found excellent model fit for the Symptom Impact Inventory with only 2 symptoms, Decreased appetite and Decreased sexual desire or interest, unstable in scale dimensionality analyses. Person and item parameters were reliable, and comparisons with groups known to differ on sym...
Journal of School Psychology, 1999
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2010
Symptoms of internalizing disorders (depression, anxiety, somatic, trauma) are the major risk fac... more Symptoms of internalizing disorders (depression, anxiety, somatic, trauma) are the major risk factors for suicide. Atypical suicide risk is characterized by people with few or no symptoms of internalizing disorders. Objective-In persons screened at intake to alcohol or other drug (AOD) treatment, this research examined whether person fit statistics would support an atypical subtype at high risk for suicide that did not present with typical depression and other internalizing disorders. Methods-Symptom profiles of the prototypical, typical, and atypical persons, as defined using fit statistics, were tested on 7,408 persons entering AOD treatment using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN; Dennis, 2003). Results-Of those with suicide symptoms, the findings were as expected with the atypical group being higher on suicide and lower on symptoms of internalizing disorders. In addition, the atypical group was similar or lower on substance problems, symptoms of externalizing disorders, and crime and violence.
Visual Arts Research, 2011
This research examines measurability, statistical interrelationships and association with test IQ... more This research examines measurability, statistical interrelationships and association with test IQ, and cultural robustness of several artistic judgment dimensions. Symmetry, Simplicity, Uniformity, and Expressiveness dimensions had been previously validated in a comprehensive study of professional artists and studied in Chicago with children of diverse cultural background. The fifth dimension, the Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity Test (VAST), rests on much weaker validity foundations but was included in this research because of wide use among empirical arts researchers. Cross-cultural comparison of these dimensions has never been reported. The study sample is a culturally homogeneous group of native Lisbon schoolchildren (modal age = 10 years, N = 48). Results showed adequate psychometric reliability for all dimensions (>.80) except VAST (.57). Means were statistically indistinguishable between Portuguese and American children on Simplicity and Uniformity, which support their aptitud...
Drawing is writing . . .”, Sulzby, 1992 The visual arts have a unique status in the evolution of ... more Drawing is writing . . .”, Sulzby, 1992 The visual arts have a unique status in the evolution of humanity and civilization. “The capacity to use symbols, to appreciate the beauty of objects, and to create them, marked a significant turning point in the evolution of Homo sapiens”. A milestone in understanding this phylogentic progression is the discovery of stochastic generative mechanisms, which are fundamental to the creative arts, and in this research, they were linked to early literacy development of young children. Central premise here is children use a recursive cognitive mechanism to link representational drawings to abstract conceptual systems, which generates new knowledge. How do children leap from drawings to new concepts? This research looked at young children’s drawings to infer cognitive changes as they invented literacy concepts. Semiotic theory is proposed to describe the generative mechanism that transforms spoken language through drawings into early literacy. Empiri...
Journal of Applied Measurement, 2012
Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are autoimmune rheu... more Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are autoimmune rheumatic diseases that are difficult for physicians to diagnose and to distinguish for a variety of reasons. The correct classification of these two diseases is a crucial issue for clinicians who treat autoimmune rheumatic diseases. In prior research, medical risk factors represented by instrument or laboratory measures and physician judgments (12 key features for MCTD and 12 key features for SLE) were parameterized with a one parameter logistic function in a Rasch model. Those results identified separate diagnostic dimensions for MCTD and SLE. This procedure was replicated in the present research with a sample of largely African American and Hispanic patients. Results verified separate dimensions for MCTD and SLE, which suggests MCTD is a separate disease from SLE.
Journal of Applied Measurement, 2003
An empirical strategy is presented for transforming ordinal counts and percentages to interval sc... more An empirical strategy is presented for transforming ordinal counts and percentages to interval scale measures by recoding them as ordered categories and estimating Rasch model rating scale parameters. This strategy is demonstrated for a neighborhood construct socioeconomic disadvantage operationally defined by eight characteristics of Chicago neighborhoods (N = 77). Results show surprisingly sound model fit and satisfactory scale invariance between 1980 and 1990 census. A striking finding obscured by traditional methods is many Chicago neighborhoods are four times more disadvantaged than official U.S. poverty threshold. Intramodel construct validation confirms this scale structure is consistent with sociological expectations about property values, income, and race. A general benefit of this approach over conventional categorical socioeconomic indices is neighborhood measurement on a linear scale.
Journal of Applied Measurement, 2006
This research examined empirical evidence for a new construct, Functional Caregiving, which is a ... more This research examined empirical evidence for a new construct, Functional Caregiving, which is a theory about mothers' caregiving of their adult children with intellectual disabilities. A sample of 108 biological mothers and primary caregivers rated survey items about their confidence to perform caregiving tasks. Rasch rating scale analysis found 61 items defined an empirical construct with three caregiving levels: Advocacy, Personal Caregiving, and Community. Results show item separation was 3.11 with high reliability, .91, and mother separation was 2.93 and reliability, .90. Both items and mothers showed adequate INFIT and OUTFIT values. Item invariance was confirmed between older and younger mothers, and principle components analysis of item residuals did not reveal any major dimensionality threats. Item decomposition analysis showed FC content theory to account for 58 percent of item calibration variance (R2 = .58, F = 42.3, p < .001). These results have important practic...
Journal of applied measurement, 2016
Journal of applied measurement, 2011
The purpose of this research was to develop an objective, linear measure of mothers' confiden... more The purpose of this research was to develop an objective, linear measure of mothers' confidence to care for children assisted with tracheostomy medical technology in their homes. Caregiver confidence is addressed in this research for three technologies, namely, a) trachesotomy, b) tracheostomy and ventilator, and c) BiPAP/CPAP although detailed measurement results are only reported for tracheostomy, and its co-calibration with tracheostomy and ventilator caregiving items. The sample consisted of 53 mothers responding to several caregiver questionnaires based on a caregiving task matrix after content and clinical validation. A major challenge was integrating this construct with overarching principles already established by Functional Caregiving, a multi-level humanistic caregiving model for children with intellectual disabilities. Empirical analyses included principal components analysis, and then linear transformation of Tracheostomy item ratings to an objective, equal-interval ...
Journal of applied measurement, 2010
Psychosocial measurement in the 21st Century is a dynamic field that is addressing challenges unt... more Psychosocial measurement in the 21st Century is a dynamic field that is addressing challenges unthinkable even a generation ago. Sophisticated methods and modern technology has brought psychometrics to the cusp of scientific objectivity. This Foreword provides historical context and intellectual foundations for appreciating contemporary psychometric advancements, as well as a perspective on issues that are determining future advances. Efficiency in outcome measurement is one of these forces driving future advances. Efficiency, however, can easily become conflated with expediency, and neither can substitute for effectiveness. Blind efficiency runs risk of degrading measurement properties. Likewise, measurement advancement without accommodation to ordinary needs leads to practical rejection. Bouchard presents a biographical link between scientific physics and Rasch models that opened the door for fundamental psychosocial measurement. Symposium papers presented in this issue present a ...
Journal of applied measurement, 2016
Does effective instruction, which changes students' knowledge and possibly alters their cogni... more Does effective instruction, which changes students' knowledge and possibly alters their cognitive functions, also affect the dimensionality of an achievement test? This question was examined by the parameterization of kinesiology test items (n = 42) with a Rasch dichotomous model, followed by an investigation of dimensionality in a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental study design. College students (n = 108) provided responses to kinesiology achievement test items. Then the stability of item difficulties, gender differences, and the interaction of item content categories with dimensionality were examined. In addition, a PCA/t-test protocol was implemented to examine dimensionality threats from the item residuals. Internal construct validity was investigated by regressing item content components on calibrated item difficulties. Measurement model item residuals were also investigated with statistical decomposition methods. In general, the results showed significant student achiev...
The stat;.lity of bias estimates from J. Schueneman's chi-square method, the transformed Delt... more The stat;.lity of bias estimates from J. Schueneman's chi-square method, the transformed Delta method, Rasch's one-parameter residual analysis, and the Mantel-Haenszel procedure, were compared across small and large samples for a data set of 30,000 cases. Bias values for 30 samples were estimated for each method, and means and variances of item bias were computed across all the samples, for comparisons contrasting sample size, sex, and race. The point estimates of item bias, based on 30 replications for each method, were also correlated across random samples, and classification techniques compared the results for agreement. The results showed that none of the methods consistently flagged more or fewer items as biased, though at the larger sample sizes the Mantel-Haenszel and Rasch methods were particularly sensitive at detecting item bias and in high agreement. Reliabilities of the Modified Delta method were generally lower than the others, as 'were the correlations betw...