Exploring the factors of the English Comprehension Test

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 376-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danille Elize Arendse ◽  
David Maree
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component ◽  
Initial Step ◽  
Extraction Methods ◽  
Test Construction ◽  
Psychometric Validation ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Comprehension Test ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
Restriction Of Range

The empirically designed English Comprehension Test was initially developed as a means of assessing individual’s English comprehension skills. The test development of the English Comprehension Test led to the piloting of two test versions of the English Comprehension Test, namely, version 1.2 and version 1.3. The purpose of this study was to statistically explore the factors emerging from the two test versions of the English Comprehension Test. This study is the initial step towards establishing the construct validity, which forms part of the validation of the English Comprehension Test. This quantitative study involved an exploratory inspection of the factors of the English Comprehension Test, with the use of factor analyses. It also employed two factor extraction methods (Principal Component Analysis and Principal Axis Factoring) for comparison. These two factor extraction methods used for the exploratory factor analyses revealed a dominant factor for both test versions of the English Comprehension Test, thereby endorsing an argument for unidimensionality of the English Comprehension Test. The similarities between the results for the two test versions confirmed the existence of an inherent structure for the English Comprehension Test, despite the differences between the two test versions. The labelling of the factors of the test also suggests that the English Comprehension Test could be an assessment of cognitive (verbal) aptitude. A major limitation of this study is the restriction of range and lack of generalizability. The contribution made by this study will enhance psychometric validation studies in South Africa as well as increasing literature on South African test construction for multicultural and multilingual individuals.

Dispositional Greed Scales

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Marcel Zeelenberg ◽  
Terri G. Seuntjens ◽  
Niels van de Ven ◽  
Seger M. Breugelmans
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Extraction Methods ◽  
Parallel Analysis ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Factor Solution ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
Kaiser Criterion

Abstract. In recent years, different scales have been developed to assess individual differences in dispositional greed. We report two studies ( N1 = 300, N2 = 1,000) on the comparative psychometric properties of these scales. We find that all scales are reliable and that they correlate highly, suggesting that all can be used to assess dispositional greed. Exploratory factor analyses, using the Empirical Kaiser Criterion, the Hull method, and Parallel Analysis as extraction methods, were done on the separate scales and all items together. These analyses reveal that there is quite some consistency in the scales, as in both studies a one-factor solution seems to describe the data best. These results imply that these different scales all assess dispositional greed, although the results also suggest that some items may be deleted from the scales.

Developing and Testing a Student-Focussed Teaching Evaluation Survey for University Instructors

2009 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 1019-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Ginns ◽  
Simon Barrie
Keyword(s):  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
University Instructors ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
High Internal Consistency ◽  
Evaluation Survey

This paper describes a process for developing a student-focussed survey to gather teaching- and learning-related feedback from university students and examines the psychometric properties of a short survey for confidential feedback to lecturers in higher education regarding teaching. Analyses were performed at the level of individual respondents and on teacher-average responses. Principal component and exploratory factor analyses at both levels indicated a single underlying lecturing effectiveness factor. Scale scores had high internal consistency. The items and subsequent scale were also consistent in terms of interrater reliability, i.e., the average consistency of ratings of an individual lecturer. Finally, at both levels of analysis, strong correlations between responses to each item and an overall rating provided support for the concurrent validity of the items. These analyses provide initial evidence of the suitability of the survey for gathering confidential student feedback on lecturing effectiveness.

Identification and Utility of a Short Form of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Youth Self-Report (PSC-17-Y)

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64
Author(s):  
Paul Bergmann ◽  
Cara Lucke ◽  
Theresa Nguyen ◽  
Michael Jellinek ◽  
John Michael Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Functioning ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Symptom Checklist ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Youth Self Report ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Pediatric Symptom Checklist ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses

Abstract. The Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Youth self-report (PSC-Y) is a 35-item measure of adolescent psychosocial functioning that uses the same items as the original parent report version of the PSC. Since a briefer (17-item) version of the parent PSC has been validated, this paper explored whether a subset of items could be used to create a brief form of the PSC-Y. Data were collected on more than 19,000 youth who completed the PSC-Y online as a self-screen offered by Mental Health America. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were first conducted to identify and evaluate candidate solutions and their factor structures. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were then conducted to determine how well the data fit the candidate models. Tests of measurement invariance across gender were conducted on the selected solution. The EFAs and CFAs suggested that a three-factor short form with 17 items is a viable and most parsimonious solution and met criteria for scalar invariance across gender. Since the 17 items used on the parent PSC short form were close to the best fit found for any subsets of items on the PSC-Y, the same items used on the parent PSC-17 are recommended for the PSC-Y short form.

Safety Culture and Safety-Relevant Behavior in Air Traffic Management

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Schwarz ◽  
K. Wolfgang Kallus
Keyword(s):  
Safety Culture ◽  
Traffic Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Air Traffic Management ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Psychometric Validation ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Culture Development

Since 2010, air navigation service providers have been mandated to implement a positive and proactive safety culture based on shared beliefs, assumptions, and values regarding safety. This mandate raised the need to develop and validate a concept and tools to assess the level of safety culture in organizations. An initial set of 40 safety culture questions based on eight themes underwent psychometric validation. Principal component analysis was applied to data from 282 air traffic management staff, producing a five-factor model of informed culture, reporting and learning culture, just culture, and flexible culture, as well as management’s safety attitudes. This five-factor solution was validated across two different occupational groups and assessment dates (construct validity). Criterion validity was partly achieved by predicting safety-relevant behavior on the job through three out of five safety culture scores. Results indicated a nonlinear relationship with safety culture scales. Overall the proposed concept proved reliable and valid with respect to safety culture development, providing a robust foundation for managers, safety experts, and operational and safety researchers to measure and further improve the level of safety culture within the air traffic management context.

Comparing Hierarchical Models of Personality Pathology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney R. Ringwald ◽  
Aidan G.C. Wright ◽  
Joseph E. Beeney ◽  
Paul A. Pilkonis
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Models ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Hierarchical Classification ◽  
Personality Pathology ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Conceptual Structures ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
Specific Factors

Two dimensional, hierarchical classification models of personality pathology have emerged as alternatives to traditional categorical systems: multi-tiered models with increasing numbers of factors and models that distinguish between a general factor of severity and specific factors reflecting style. Using a large sample (N=840) with a range of psychopathology, we conducted exploratory factor analyses of individual personality disorder criteria to evaluate the validity of these conceptual structures. We estimated an oblique, “unfolding” hierarchy and a bifactor model, then examined correlations between these and multi-method functioning measures to enrich interpretation. Four-factor solutions for each model, reflecting rotations of each other, fit well and equivalently. The resulting structures are consistent with previous empirical work and provide support for each theoretical model.

Preliminary Communication: 2: The Highlands Dependency Questionnaire (HDQ): An administered version for use with mothers of school children

1971 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 343-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Berg ◽  
Ralph McGuire ◽  
Edward Whelan
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
The Other ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
Preliminary Communication ◽  
Mother Child Relationship

SYNOPSISA questionnaire concerned with dependency, mainly in the mother–child relationship, and intended for use in child psychiatry, is described. It was administered to the mothers of 116 randomly selected junior and secondary school children in the general population, stratified into age, sex, social class, and school groupings. Two meaningful dimensions were revealed by principal component factor analyses: one concerned with reliance on mother and the other reflecting sociability. Reliability and validity were found to be satisfactory.

Are the Dimensions Underlying Aesthetic and Affective Judgment the Same?

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rüdiger Baltissen ◽  
Barbara-Maria Ostermann
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Emotional Factor ◽  
Emotional Factors ◽  
Affective Judgment ◽  
Art Objects ◽  
Emotional Pictures ◽  
Main Factor

To investigate whether aesthetic and affective judgment are similar, ninety-six subjects rated twenty-four art pictures varying in theme and date of creation as well as twenty-three emotion inducing slides (IAPS) representing different emotional qualities on nine bipolar 8-point scales, e.g., warm-cold, meaningful-not meaningful. Factor analyses performed separately for each picture set revealed two basic dimensions, named cognitive and emotional factors, explaining about 60 percent of the variance. In the case of artworks, the dominant factor was constituted by cognitive scales (meaningful, interesting, simple); regarding the affective slides, the main factor was constituted by emotional scales (warm, emotional, arousing). ANOVAs confirmed the expected differences between themes and date of creation for the art picture as well as the differences between emotional qualities of the IAPS for both, the cognitive and the emotional factor. Proportion of variance of the ratings explained by gender, age, and education was low. Overall, results suggest that looking at art objects is a predominantly cognitive process requiring understanding whereas looking at emotional pictures evokes feelings with cognitive processes being only marginally involved.

scholarly journals Centennial mineral dust variability in high-resolution ice core data from Dome C, Antarctica

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Lambert ◽  
M. Bigler ◽  
J. P. Steffensen ◽  
M. Hutterli ◽  
H. Fischer
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Core Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dust Flux ◽  
Soluble Calcium

Abstract. Ice core data from Antarctica provide detailed insights into the characteristics of past climate, atmospheric circulation, as well as changes in the aerosol load of the atmosphere. We present high-resolution records of soluble calcium (Ca2+), non-sea-salt soluble calcium (nssCa2+), and particulate mineral dust aerosol from the East Antarctic Plateau at a depth resolution of 1 cm, spanning the past 800 000 years. Despite the fact that all three parameters are largely dust-derived, the ratio of nssCa2+ to particulate dust is dependent on the particulate dust concentration itself. We used principal component analysis to extract the joint climatic signal and produce a common high-resolution record of dust flux. This new record is used to identify Antarctic warming events during the past eight glacial periods. The phasing of dust flux and CO2 changes during glacial-interglacial transitions reveals that iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean during the past nine glacial terminations was not the dominant factor in the deglacial rise of CO2 concentrations. Rapid changes in dust flux during glacial terminations and Antarctic warming events point to a rapid response of the southern westerly wind belt in the region of southern South American dust sources on changing climate conditions. The clear lead of these dust changes on temperature rise suggests that an atmospheric reorganization occurred in the Southern Hemisphere before the Southern Ocean warmed significantly.

scholarly journals Raman-Enhanced Spectroscopy (RESpect) Probe for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Agsalda-Garcia ◽  
Tiffany Shieh ◽  
Ryan Souza ◽  
Natalie Kamada ◽  
Nicholas Loi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Raman Spectroscopy ◽  
Hodgkin Lymphoma ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Initial Step ◽  
Follicular Hyperplasia ◽  
Raman Spectroscopic ◽  
Non Hodgkin Lymphoma ◽  
Cellular Pathogenesis ◽  
Ultimate Objective

Raman-enhanced spectroscopy (RESpect) probe, which enhances Raman spectroscopy technology through a portable fiber-optic device, characterizes tissues and cells by identifying molecular chemical composition showing distinct differences/similarities for potential tumor markers or diagnosis. In a feasibility study with the ultimate objective to translate the technology to the clinic, a panel of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma tissues and non-malignant specimens had RS analyses compared between standard Raman spectroscopy microscope instrument and RESpect probe. Cryopreserved tissues were mounted on front-coated aluminum mirror slides and analyzed by standard Raman spectroscopy and RESpect probe. Principal Component Analysis revealed similarities between non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes but not follicular hyperplasia. Standard Raman spectroscopy and RESpect probe fingerprint comparisons demonstrated comparable primary peaks. Raman spectroscopic fingerprints and peaks of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes and follicular hyperplasia provided novel avenues to pursue diagnostic approaches and identify potential new therapeutic targets. The information could inform new insights into molecular cellular pathogenesis. Translating Raman spectroscopy technology by using the RESpect probe as a potential point-of-care screening instrument has the potential to change the paradigm of screening for cancer as an initial step to determine when a definitive tissue biopsy would be necessary.

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