For the statistical consultant working with social science researchers the estimation of reliability and validity is a task frequently encountered. Measurement issues differ in the social sciences in that they are related to the quantification of abstract, intangible and unobservable constructs. In many instances, then, the meaning of quantities is only inferred. Let us begin by a general description of the paradigm that we are dealing with. Most concepts in the behavioral sciences have meaning within the context of the theory that they are a part of. Each concept, thus, has an operational definition which is governed by the overarching theory. If a concept is involved in the testing of hypothesis to support the theory it has to be measured. So the first decision that the research is faced with is \" how shall the concept be measured? \" That is the type of measure. At a very broad level the type of measure can be observational, self-report, interview, etc. These types ultimately take shape of a more specific form like observation of ongoing activity, observing video-taped events, self-report measures like questionnaires that can be open-ended or close-ended, Likert-type scales, interviews that are structured, semi-structured or unstructured and open-ended or close-ended. Needless to say, each type of measure has specific types of issues that need to be addressed to make the measurement meaningful, accurate, and efficient. Another important feature is the population for which the measure is intended. This decision is not entirely dependent on the theoretical paradigm but more to the immediate research question at hand. 6/14/2016 2 A third point that needs mentioning is the purpose of the scale or measure. What is it that the researcher wants to do with the measure? Is it developed for a specific study or is it developed with the anticipation of extensive use with similar populations? Once some of these decisions are made and a measure is developed, which is a careful and tedious process, the relevant questions to raise are \" how do we know that we are indeed measuring what we want to measure? \" since the construct that we are measuring is abstract, and \" can we be sure that if we repeated the measurement we will get the same result? \". The first question is related to validity and second to reliability. Validity and reliability are two important characteristics of behavioral measure and are referred to as …

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Validity and reliability.

This Pulse Check is a report of national trends in illicit drug abuse and drug markets in the United States. The report draws on conversations with ethnographers and epidemiologists working in the drug field, law enforcement agents, and drug treatment providers across the United States. Information from each of these sources is summarized in narrative form broken down by drug type and presented in detailed tables at the end of the report. The four groupings of drugs are heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and emerging drugs. Results show that the market for heroin and cocaine remains fairly stable. Marijuana continues to be popular among young people and is frequently used with alcohol, hallucinogens, cocaine, or methamphetamines. Among the emerging drugs, methamphetamine continues to be a problem in the West and parts of the South, its low price making it an easily accessible drug. "Club drugs," such as Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) and Ketamine, are part of the drug scene in most areas, with many young people using a combination of these substances. (RJM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Office of National Drug Control Policy PULSE CHECK National Trends in Drug Abuse Executive Office of the President Office of National Drug Control Policy Barry R. McCaffrey, Director

Office of national drug control policy

In this provocative book, David Elkind explores many of the expectations and experiences that contemporary children must face. In so doing, he develops a persuasive argument that parents, schools, and the media are increasingly placing their own needs above the needs of children and, thus, are failing to recognize the "special estate" that children deserve. Because they are vulnerable to pressures to hurry and grow up—too fast, too soon—children experience stress as they have "unusual demands for adaptation" placed on them. The author further contends that stress leads to such symptoms as free-floating anxiety, type A behavior, school burnout, and learned helplessness. Elkind also aptly notes that stress can strengthen some children: "the boiling water that hardens the egg softens the carrot." Weighing the beneficial v the detrimental effects of stress on children does not seem to be a central issue in this book. Rather, the author focuses on the

The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon

Dr. Rutter’s latest work is a welcome addition to the spate of books and articles which have appeared in recent years on this topic - especially welcome since the title tells us where he stands. This text is about the variety of appearances of behaviour that puts others at risk, independent of cause or presumptive etiology. It does not attempt to characterize antisocial acts as necessarily Psychiatric, and he is careful not to force fit them into the rubric of Conduct Disorder, as so many American texts have and continue to do, with the implication of a defineable etiologic pathway. In this sense, his book is far more Sociologic than Psychiatric.

Having said that, it is praiseworthy in its scope, and as is typical for this author, for the sheer number of references cited - about seventy-five pages of them. It is, and is intended to be, a scholarly text - a reference book, not an evening’s read. There are thirteen chapters, each of which is well-organized, with an introduction, frequent headings, extensive use of bulletted lists and extremely good charts, and each with a summary of the main points. The introductory chapter makes it plain that the authors intend to abjure categorical reductionism, and they largely succeed. If there is a fault to this text, is that it tries perhaps too hard to do so - it appears to avoid conclusions regarding causation (‘splitting’ versus ‘lumping’) to the point where it can be difficult to derive an organizing perspective. Where putative ‘pathways’ to delinquent behaviour are discussed, there tends to be a reluctance to single out one among many such possible pathways as being of special significance.

For the researcher, this book is invaluable, by virtue of the scope and quality of statistical reporting, if not always analysis. I was fascinated by the richness of the data, drawn primarily from the British Home Office, but frequently incorporating some of the excellent databases developed in Sweden. Where available, attempt has been made by the authors to retrieve data from as many countries in the world as possible. One gets the distinct feeling that a principle hurdle facing the authors is that many countries do not collect the same data as others, or collect it in such an idiosyncratic fashion as to defy comparison with other countries. I could not help but notice that reporting crime rates by ethnic origin seems to be less ‘politically-incorrect’ in British publications than American.

Of special interest was a chart that must have been very difficult to compile, which broke down the reported rate of crime by victims versus the number of arrests made, and then the number of cases handled short of prosecution versus those that go to trial. I had never seen anything quite like this in other texts. It certainly brought home the message that what comes to the attention of law enforcement agencies ‘on the street’ bears little resemblance to the population most-frequently studied by Forensic Psychiatrists - youth in detention.

This text should be on the shelf of any criminologist or Forensic Psychiatrist, and serves as an invaluable tool for academic Psychiatrists writing articles and/or teaching courses on disruptive behaviour disorders. The respect for the topic by the authors is evident, as is the firm adherence to presentation of facts (as they are available) in lieu of conclusion - premature or not - with respect to causation. I look forward to the possibility of a next edition of this work, as the world statistics are open to the careful filtering of Dr. Rutter and his colleagues.

Antisocial Behaviour by Young People

https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/40659677/FryEtalCAN2017TheRelationshipsBetween.pdf

The relationships between violence in childhood and educational outcomes: A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims - To assess the reliability of drug use reports by young respondents, this study examined the extent of recanting previous drug use reports within an ongoing longitudinal survey of adolescent drug use. Here, recanting was defined as a positive report of life-time drug use that was subsequently denied 1 year later. The covariates of recanting were also studied. Design - An ongoing longitudinal survey of young adolescents (Belfast Youth Development Study) in Northern Ireland. Setting - Pencil and paper questionnaires were administered to pupils within participating schools. Measurements Measures analysed included (a) recanting rates across 13 substances, (b) educational characteristics, (c) offending behaviour and (d) socio-economic status. Findings - High levels of drug use recanting were identified, ranging from 7% of past alcohol use to 87% of past magic mushroom use. Recanting increased with the social stigma of the substance used. Denying past alcohol use was associated with being male, attending a catholic school, having positive attitudes towards school, having negative education expectations and not reporting any offending behaviour. Recanting alcohol intoxication was associated with being male and not reporting serious offending behaviour. Cannabis recanting was associated with having negative education expectations, receiving drugs education and not reporting serious offending behaviour. Conclusions - The high levels of recanting uncovered cast doubts on the reliability of drug use reports from young adolescents. Failure to address this response error may lead to biased prevalence estimates, particularly within school surveys and drug education evaluation trials.

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Response consistency in young adolescents' drug use self-reports: a recanting rate analysis.

A growing number of international studies document the importance of regular school attendance. There is a consensus among authors that absenteeism has negative implications for academic achievement as well as the social development of the child and may put them at a disadvantage in terms of their position in the education and labour market. Most of the existing studies have focused on school absenteeism among adolescents with studies on poor school attendance among young children relatively rare. This paper addresses this gap in research by exploring factors that are related to school absenteeism in Irish primary schools. Drawing on a nationally representative study of nine-year-olds, it demonstrates the complexity of the issue. The findings indicate that a combination of institutional and individual factors shape patterns of poor school attendance in Irish primary schools. While the data relate to the Irish situation, the paper raises a number of issues of interest to an international audience.

Persistent absenteeism among Irish primary school pupils

Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of adolescent drug use, this study examines the proportion of teenagers living with parents who are problem alcohol or drug users. Around two per cent of parents report high levels of problem drinking and one per cent report problem drug use. If a broader definition of hazardous drinking is used, the proportion of teenagers exposed increases to over 15 per cent. When substance use is examined at a family level (taking account of alcohol and drug use amongst dependent children in addition to that of parents), the proportion of families experiencing some form of substance use is considerable. These findings add further support to the call for increased recognition of the needs of dependent children within adult treatment services when working with parents. Likewise, the reduction of harm to children as a result of parental substance use should be an increasingly important priority for family support services. This is likely to be achieved through the closer integration of addiction and family services. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Maeve Thornton

Papers

Response consistency in young adolescents' drug use self-reports: a recanting rate analysis.

Persistent absenteeism among Irish primary school pupils

The extent and nature of family alcohol and drug use: Findings from the Belfast Youth Development Study

Growing Up in Ireland: Design, Instrumentation and Procedures for the Child Cohort (at 9 years)

Growing up in Ireland, National Longitudinal Study of Children: Background and Conceptual Framework