Identifying Unknown Response Styles: A Latent-Class Bilinear Multinomial Logit Model

Respondents can vary significantly in the way they use rating scales. Specifically, respondents can exhibit varying degrees of response style, which threatens the validity of the responses. The purpose of this article is to investigate to what extent rating scale responses show response style and substantive content of the item. The authors develop a novel model that accounts for possibly unknown kinds of response styles, content of the items, and background characteristics of respondents. By imposing a bilinear structure on the parameters of a multinomial logit model, the authors can visually distinguish the effects on the response behavior of both the characteristics of a respondent and the content of the item. This approach is combined with finite mixture modeling, so that two separate segmentations of the respondents are obtained: one for response style and one for item content. This latent-class bilinear multinomial logit (LC-BML) model is applied to a cross-national data set. The results show that item content is highly influential in explaining response behavior and reveal the presence of several response styles, including the prominent response styles acquiescence and extreme response style.multinomial logit model;visualization;segmentation;cross-cultural research;response style

Design of Rating Scales in Questionnaires (Version 2.0)

Rating scales are among the most important and most frequently used instruments in social science data collection. There is an extensive body of methodological research on the design of rating scales and on their (psycho-)metric properties. In this contribution, the authors address individual aspects of questionnaire construction with regard to rating scales. A brief overview of the current state of research is given, a number of accounts of practical experiences are presented, and - to the extent that this is possible - recommendations for the design of rating scales are given

The Enhanced Reading Opportunities Study: Early Impact and Implementation Findings

This report presents early findings from a demonstration and random assignment evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth-grade readers. On average, the programs produced a positive, statistically significant impact on reading comprehension among students

The Enhanced Reading Opportunities Study: Findings from the Second Year of Implementation

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a majority of ninth-graders in low-performing high schools begin their freshman year with significant reading difficulties. Poor reading ability is a key predictor of academic disengagement and, ultimately, dropping out. This report presents findings from the second year of the Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study, a demonstration and random assignment evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs -- Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy and Xtreme Reading -- that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth-grade readers

Die graphische Darstellung der Don't Know-Kategorie in Ratingskalen

Diese Dissertation bietet sowohl eine theoretische als auch empirische Auseinandersetzung mit den Effekten der graphischen Darstellung der Don’t Know Kategorie in Ratingskalen in selbstadministrierten Umfragen. Neben einer theoretischen Erörterung der Relevanz der graphischen Darstellung von Ratingskalen, also deren Layout, im Fragebeantwortungsprozess, wurden Experimente in einer papierbasierten Befragung von Studenten und in einem Web Panel Survey durchgeführt. Dabei wurden den Befragungsteilnehmer drei Ratingskalenlayouts randomisiert vorgelegt. Die Ergebnisse logistischer Multilevel Regressionen zeigen, dass Befragte systematisch durch das Skalenlayout in ihrem Antwortverhalten beeinflusst werden, was sich in unterschiedlichen Wahrscheinlichkeiten der Wahl der Mittel-, der rechten Extrem- und der Don’t Know Kategorie widerspiegelt. Dabei zeigen sich Befragte nicht immer gleich empfänglich für das Layout der Ratingskala: Das Auftreten der Layouteffekte ist abhängig von den Inhalten der Frage, der individuellen Stärke der Einstellung des Befragten gegenüber dem Frageinhalt sowie von seiner kognitiven Leistungsfähigkeit

The acceptability to college students of highly intimate disclosures from strangers

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Kansas, Speech and Drama, 1978

Empathy

After defining empathy, discussing its measurement, and offering an example of empathy in practice, we present the results of an updated meta-analysis of the relation between empathy and psychotherapy outcome. Results indicated that empathy is a moderately strong predictor of therapy outcome: mean weighted r = .31 ( p < .001; 95% confidence interval: .28 –.34), for 59 independent samples and 3599 clients. Although the empathy-outcome relation held equally for different theoretical orientations, there was considerable nonrandom variability. Client and observer perceptions of therapist empathy predicted outcomes better than therapist perceptions of empathic accuracy measures, and the relation was strongest for less experienced therapists. We conclude with practice recommendations, including endorsing the different forms that empathy may take in therapy

Structural Equation Modeling of Attitudes Toward Employment Testing

This research investigated the relationships among past testing experiences, testing attitudes, perceptions of test performance, race, and gender. In addition, the effects of testing information on testing attitudes were studied. Two hundred and twelve applicants to a variety of positions in a large telecommunications company were asked to complete a series of questionnaires before and after employment testing. The questionnaires included measures of testing experience, general and specific testing attitudes, and perceptions of test performance. Scores on the employment test were also obtained as a measure of cognitive ability. Of the 212 participants, half were given a brochure to read that explained the reasons why the company uses employment testing. The remaining half of the participants did not receive the brochure. It was hypothesized that general testing attitudes would influence specific testing attitudes and that testing experience. general testing attitudes. and cognitive ability would be related. Testing experience and cognitive ability were expected to influence perceptions of test performance. Further, it was hypothesized that race and gender would be related to perceptions of test performance with whites and males perceiving higher levels of performance than African Americans and females. Race was also expected to be related to cognitive ability, testing experience, and general testing attitudes. Perceptions of test performance were also hypothesized to influence specific testing attitudes. Finally, it was expected that participants who received information about testing and corporate testing policy would have more positive post-test testing attitudes than those who do not receive the information. Relationships among the latent variables were tested via structural model analysis. The results of this analysis yielded support for most of the hypotheses. General testing attitudes were found to influence specific testing attitudes. Also, testing experience was related to general testing attitudes and cognitive ability. Testing experience and cognitive ability were also found to influence perceptions of test performance. In addition, perceptions of test performance influenced specific testing attitudes. Finally, participants who read the testing information brochure had more positive ratings on the beliefs about testing scale than those participants who did not receive the brochure

"Do You Know What You Don't Know?" Exploring Monitoring Accuracy Across Domains of General Knowledge, Financial Calculation, and Probability Calculation

Confidence and its accuracy have been most commonly examined in domains such as general knowledge and learning, with less study of other domains, such as applied knowledge and problem-solving. Monitoring accuracy in real-world competencies may depend on characteristics of the domain. The current study examined whether monitoring accuracy, both calibration (resistance to overconfidence) and resolution (discrimination) indices, are stable within individuals and across tasks that represent highly diverse areas. The well-established domain of general knowledge and two understudied applied domains of financial calculation and probability calculation were examined. In addition, correlations between monitoring accuracy and cognitive abilities (intellectual ability and working memory) and several aggregated judgments regarding each task as a whole (ratings of predicted and postdictive performance, task difficulty, and effort required), as well self-perceptions relating to test anxiety and academic self-concept were explored. Calibration was significantly positively correlated across tasks, reflecting a person-centered trait, but not resolution. Cognitive abilities were predictive of both calibration and resolution across tasks, while other task-specific judgments and self-perception variables demonstrated varied and tasks specific associations. Monitoring accuracy was not predictive of real-world outcomes including academic average and learning challenges. Overall study findings support that when considering a wide range of domains, calibration displays domain-generality, while resolution displays domain-specificity

The effects of modeling, behavioral rehearsal, and videotape feedback in assertive training

This study investigated the relative effectiveness of (1) modeling, (2) modeling plus behavior rehearsal, and (3) modeling, behavior rehearsal,_ and videotaped feedback in assertive training.. Twelve psychiatric outpatients were randomly assigned to three treatment groups, ,each of which received 5 hours of training. Four additional subjects served as a waiting .list control group. The dependent measures used were the Assertive Behavior Situation Test (ABST), a behavioral role-play test, and two additional paper and pencil measures (Constriction Scale and Fear of Negative Evaluation). Each of these measures was administered at pre- and post-test sessions. Split-plot 4.2 analyses of variance (Kirk, 1968) yielded a significant trial effect on both of the pencil and paper measures but not on the ABST. There were no significant group effects on any of the measures, nor were there any group X trial interactions. The implications of these results on previously reported assertive training research were briefly discussed