Self-Reports in Organizational Research: Problems and Prospects

Measurement invariance is usually tested using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis, which examines the change in the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) when cross-group constraints are imposed on a measurement model. Although many studies have examined the properties of GFI as indicators of overall model fit for single-group data, there have been none to date that examine how GFIs change when between-group constraints are added to a measurement model. The lack of a consensus about what constitutes significant GFI differences places limits on measurement invariance testing. We examine 20 GFIs based on the minimum fit function. A simulation under the two-group situation was used to examine changes in the GFIs (ΔGFIs) when invariance constraints were added. Based on the results, we recommend using Δcomparative fit index, ΔGamma hat, and ΔMcDonald's Noncentrality Index to evaluate measurement invariance. These three ΔGFIs are independent of both model complexity and sample size, and are not correlated with the o...

Evaluating Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance

Statistical procedures for missing data have vastly improved, yet misconception and unsound practice still abound. The authors frame the missing-data problem, review methods, offer advice, and raise issues that remain unresolved. They clear up common misunderstandings regarding the missing at random (MAR) concept. They summarize the evidence against older procedures and, with few exceptions, discourage their use. They present, in both technical and practical language, 2 general approaches that come highly recommended: maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian multiple imputation (MI). Newer developments are discussed, including some for dealing with missing data that are not MAR. Although not yet in the mainstream, these procedures may eventually extend the ML and MI methods that currently represent the state of the art.

/pdf/missing-data-our-view-of-the-state-of-the-art-3xnwc88wmd.pdf

Missing data: Our view of the state of the art.

Despite the concern that has been expressed about potential method biases, and the pervasiveness of research settings with the potential to produce them, there is disagreement about whether they really are a problem for researchers in the behavioral sciences. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to explore the current state of knowledge about method biases. First, we explore the meaning of the terms “method” and “method bias” and then we examine whether method biases influence all measures equally. Next, we review the evidence of the effects that method biases have on individual measures and on the covariation between different constructs. Following this, we evaluate the procedural and statistical remedies that have been used to control method biases and provide recommendations for minimizing method bias.

Sources of Method Bias in Social Science Research and Recommendations on How to Control It

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is a complex, multi-step process. The goal of this paper is to collect, in one article, information that will allow researchers and practitioners to understand the various choices available through popular software packages, and to make decisions about ”best practices” in exploratory factor analysis. In particular, this paper provides practical information on making decisions regarding (a) extraction, (b) rotation, (c) the number of factors to interpret, and (d) sample size.

/pdf/best-practices-in-exploratory-factor-analysis-four-3q64vgrpxp.pdf

Best Practices in Exploratory Factor Analysis: Four Recommendations for Getting the Most from Your Analysis

The Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging is a semilongitudinal study of the aging of mental abilities in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. In the article by D. Finkel, N. L. Pedersen, R. Plomin, and G. E. McClearn (1998), data from 602 individuals were used to investigate developmental changes on 14 measures of mental ability as well as changes in the heritability of these abilities. This commentary details a number of problems with the design and analysis of data reported by Finkel et al., problems that leave the results difficult to interpret, and then provides suggestions for more fruitful approaches for analyzing data from such studies in the future.

Ruminations on aging changes in mental abilities and their heritability: comment on Finkel, Pedersen, Plomin, and McClearn (1998).

Book Review : Computer Program Exchange: ALPHA: A SAS Program for Scale Internal Consistency Analyses

Properly characterizing clusters of families who have children with mental retardation: a comment on Mink, Blacher, and Nihira.

Parents' attachment orientations predict children's memory about distressing life events, such that parents who are less secure in close relationships tend to have children who are less accurate in their memory reports. This study examined whether socially supportive interviewing would reduce differences in children's memory performance associated with parents' attachment. Children (3 to 5 years, N = 63) and their primary caretakers took part in the Preschool Attachment Classification System (PACS), a moderately distressing event for children of preschool age that is based on the Strange Situation Procedure. Children's memory for the event was then tested shortly thereafter by either a supportive or a non-supportive interviewer. In the non-supportive condition, children whose parents scored higher on attachment avoidance provided lower proportions of correct free recall. However, the association was not significant for children in the supportive condition. In addition, higher parental attachment anxiety predicted lower proportions of correct free recall for children of highly avoidant parents, but not for children of parents lower in attachment avoidance. For direct questions, age differences in proportion correct and proportion incorrect favoured older children. Findings provide insight into interviewing techniques at time of memory retrieval that benefit children of insecure parents.

Parents’ attachment orientation, interviewers’ support, and children’s memory for a mildly distressing event

A time series of nocturnal emissions was presented in The American Journal of Psychology in 1904. The anonymous author of this remarkable article provided the time series to support his contention that his nocturnal emissions exhibited a seasonal pattern of variation. Specifically, he claimed to have heightened emissions during spring and summer, with dampened emissions later. The basis for this claim was a time series graph of average emissions by month across an 8-year period. The purpose of this article is to reanalyze these data with statistical procedures developed in the past century to validate the original conclusion drawn by the author. After analyses of the data with several state-of-the-art methods, no statistical support was found for a seasonal pattern of nocturnal emissions.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/amerjpsyc.125.1.0039

Keith F. Widaman

Papers

Ruminations on aging changes in mental abilities and their heritability: comment on Finkel, Pedersen, Plomin, and McClearn (1998).

Book Review : Computer Program Exchange: ALPHA: A SAS Program for Scale Internal Consistency Analyses

Properly characterizing clusters of families who have children with mental retardation: a comment on Mink, Blacher, and Nihira.

Parents’ attachment orientation, interviewers’ support, and children’s memory for a mildly distressing event

Nocturnal emissions: a failure to replicate.