Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.

Standards for educational and psychological testing

Statistical Analysis with Missing Data

1. Type 1 diabetes (due to b-cell destruction, usually leading to absolute insulin deficiency) 2. Type 2 diabetes (due to a progressive insulin secretory defect on the background of insulin resistance) 3. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (diabetes diagnosed in the second or third trimester of pregnancy that is not clearly overt diabetes) 4. Specific types of diabetes due to other causes, e.g., monogenic diabetes syndromes (such as neonatal diabetes and maturity-onset diabetes of the young [MODY]), diseases of the exocrine pancreas (such as cystic fibrosis), and drugor chemical-induced diabetes (such as in the treatment of HIV/AIDS or after organ transplantation)

Classification and diagnosis of diabetes

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 …

/pdf/validity-and-reliability-3ymfyx75ou.pdf

Validity and reliability.

Title: A classification system for research designs in psychology. Abstract: In this work we devise a conceptual framework and develop some basic principles to promove a classification system for the most usual research designs in psychology based on three strategies (manipulative, as- sociative and descriptive) from which emerge different types of studies, three for manipulative strategy (experimental, quasi-experimental and sin- gle-case), three for associative strategy (comparative, predictive and expla- natory) and two for descriptive strategy (observational and selective).

/pdf/un-sistema-de-clasificacion-de-los-disenos-de-investigacion-1d1fhntifl.pdf

Un sistema de clasificación de los diseños de investigación en psicología

This
research was funded by the Spanish Association of Methodology
of Behavioral Sciences and Health (AEMCCO), member of the
European Association of Methodology (EAM), and by the FPI
programme from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
of the Government of Spain (PSI2014-56114-P, BES2012-053488,
and PSI2017-85724-P).

Using reversed items in Likert scales: A questionable practice

This study assessed cognitive deficit in patients diagnosed with different stages of hepatic cirrhosis and in liver transplant recipients. A short protocol consisting of several psychometric tests was used. Cirrhotic patients showed a degree of mental impairment in all the functions studied. The severity of the deficit was related to the degree of hepatic dysfunction. In contrast, liver transplant recipients presented only a slightly altered cerebral dysfunction in comparison to the control group. Their cognitive capacity was slightly better than that of patients with asymptomatic cirrhosis.

https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1176/jnp.15.1.84

Cognitive deficits in patients with hepatic cirrhosis and in liver transplant recipients.

espanolAntecedentes: la implicacion familiar en el proceso educativo es un hecho deseable, aunque una mayor implicacion no garantiza mejores resultados. El objetivo de esta investigacion es explorar la relacion entre los estilos de implicacion familiar en el hogar y los resultados escolares. Metodo: se utilizo una muestra de 26.543 estudiantes espanoles con una medida de edad de 14,4 anos (DT = 0,75). El 66,2% asiste a un centro publico; el 49,7% son mujeres; el 87,8% es espanol; y el 73,5% esta escolarizado en el curso correspondiente a su edad. Se ajustaron diferentes modelos jerarquico-lineales de tres niveles: alumnado, centro y region. Resultados: los estudiantes cuyos progenitores presentan un perfi l de implicacion familiar mas distal o indirecto tienden a presentar mejores resultados que los que provienen de hogares con un estilo mas controlador. Los estilos familiares tienen efecto sobre los resultados individuales y de centro, incluso despues de descontar el impacto de las variables de contexto. Conclusiones: dada la importancia de la implicacion familiar en el rendimiento, los centros deben de tenerla muy en cuenta en su politica de informacion y formacion familiar. Los centros que tienen perfi les familiares mas comunicativos tienden a presentar menores diferencias intra-centro en los resultados individuales EnglishBackground: Parental involvement in the educational process is desirable, although more involvement does not guarantee better results. The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between styles of parental involvement at home and academic performance. Method: A random sample of 26,543 Spanish students was used, with a mean age of 14.4 (SD = 0.75). Two thirds (66.2%) attended a publicly funded school; 49.7% were girls; 87.8% had Spanish nationality; and 73.5% were in the school year corresponding to their age. Different three-level hierarchical-linear models were fi tted: student, school, and region (autonomous community). Results: Students whose parents exhibited a more distal or indirect profi le of family involvement tended to demonstrate better results than those from homes with a more controlling style. Parental involvement styles have an effect on achievement at an individual and school level, even after accounting for the effect of context or background variables. Conclusions: Given the importance of parental involvement in academic performance, schools should consider it in their family information and training policies. Schools which have more communicative family profiles tend to demonstrate lower levels of intra-school differences in students’ academic performance

Parental involvement and academic performance: Less control and more communication

Background. The study of entrepreneurial activity has undergone intense development in recent decades. Traditionally this topic has been addressed from three approaches: economic, sociological and psychological. In the study of enterprising personality, two fundamental perspectives stand out: the use of general personality traits, like the Big Five, and the use of more specific traits related to entrepreneurial spirit, such as self-efficacy, autonomy, innovation, optimism, and others. The objective of this study is to provide validity evidence for a new instrument for measuring eight specific dimensions of entrepreneurial personality (BEPE). Method. The sample was composed of 1,170 adults from the general population (59.9% women). The average age was 42.34 years with a standard deviation of 12.96. Of the sample, 13% were self-employed. Internal factorial structure and reliability of BEPE were examined. The relationships with other variables and the discriminative capacity of the BEPE between different groups of workers were analyzed. Results. First order factor analyses show the essential unidimensionality of each of the eight proposed sub-scales, with factorial weights ranging between 0.341 and 0.825. A second-order factor analysis was carried out, obtaining a general dimension of entrepreneurial personality. With regards to reliability, the eight BEPE sub-scales gave high alpha coefficient values, between 0.825 and 0.899, as did the total battery (0.97). BEPE sub-scales show a high canonical correlation with the Big Five personality factors (.795), and with the sub-scales of the Measure of Entrepreneurial Talents and Abilities questionnaire (.815). Conclusions. The BEPE questionnaire for the evaluation of the eight fundamental specific dimensions of the entrepreneurial personality presents adequate psychometric properties. Its relationships with other measures of personality traits are in line with what is expected. Therefore, the BEPE is a new measurement instrument that can be used with confidence both in the applied field and in research.

/pdf/assessment-of-eight-entrepreneurial-personality-dimensions-5ave2rdbg3.pdf

Assessment of Eight Entrepreneurial Personality Dimensions: Validity Evidence of the BEPE Battery

Title: Missing data and psychometric properties of personality tests. Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of missing values on the psychometric properties of personality tests. An applied approach was used, trying to simulate conditions similar to those found in the professional practice. Two simulation studies were designed, based on actual data from the administration of ESQUIZO-Q test, which assesses schizotypy. In the first study a large sample was used (N=3056), and in the second one a smaller sample (N=200) was analyzed. In both cases four levels of missing values, and eight procedures for handling missing values were simulated. The influence of these conditions on the estimates of Cronbach's α, the factor structure of the test, and the arrangement of test scores were analyzed. The results suggest that in the presence of low levels of missing values, even the simplest imputation methods offer appropriate solutions from a applied point of view. From a statistical perspective the Expectation-Maximization (EM) method is the one with a better overall performance in the different criteria handled. Also noteworthy is the poor performance of replacement procedures when using the value of the previous or posterior item in order to maintain the factor structure of the data.

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Marcelino Cuesta

Papers

Using reversed items in Likert scales: A questionable practice

Cognitive deficits in patients with hepatic cirrhosis and in liver transplant recipients.

Parental involvement and academic performance: Less control and more communication

Assessment of Eight Entrepreneurial Personality Dimensions: Validity Evidence of the BEPE Battery

Datos perdidos y propiedades psicométricas en los tests de personalidad