Measurement Error in Longitudinal Data

Understanding change is essential in most scientific fields. This is highlighted by the importance of issues such as shifts in public health and changes in public opinion regarding politicians and policies. Nevertheless, our measurements of the world around us are often imperfect. For example, measurements of attitudes might be biased by social desirability, while estimates of health may be marred by low sensitivity and specificity. In this book we tackle the important issue of how to understand and estimate change in the context of data that are imperfect and exhibit measurement error. The book brings together the latest advances in the area of estimating change in the presence of measurement error from a number of different fields, such as survey methodology, sociology, psychology, statistics, and health. Furthermore, it covers the entire process, from the best ways of collecting longitudinal data, to statistical models to estimate change under uncertainty, to examples of researchers applying these methods in the real world. The book introduces the reader to essential issues of longitudinal data collection such as memory effects, panel conditioning (or mere measurement effects), the use of administrative data, and the collection of multi-mode longitudinal data. It also introduces the reader to some of the most important models used in this area, including quasi-simplex models, latent growth models, latent Markov chains, and equivalence/DIF testing. Further, it discusses the use of vignettes in the context of longitudinal data and estimation methods for multilevel models of change in the presence of measurement error.

La cinta muraria di Lastra a Signa: metodologie di rilievo digitale integrato

The city wall of Lastra a Signa: integrated digital survey methodologiesThe survey of the Lastra a Signa city walls (built between the second half of 1300 and the first half of 1400) is the result of three different survey campaigns made in 2006-2007-2008 and of the following data processing carried out as part of a Master thesis. It is a paradigmatic example of the overcoming of the concept of “survey as a mere measurement and graphic representation of a certain element”, by using a methodology protocol. At that time, survey operations became more complex because it was necessary to coordinate with a scientific basis the different survey phases: preliminary documentation, data taking with several instruments, data processing, data filing and cataloguing, two-dimensional representation of plans, cross-sections and elevations, wall decay interpretation and building materials analysis. The survey subject became a dynamic and ever-changing process, thanks to the introduction of digital survey and the availability of new technologies. This paper describes the methodologies that were used in each different part of the survey campaign, of the data cataloguing operations and of the representation process, underlining the importance of the strict hierarchy of the acquired and rendered data. This hierarchy allowed to manage information obtained from topographic, laser, direct and photographic survey, and then to discretise, clean, georeference and make two-dimensional representations of the acquired data. Ultimately, it allowed creating a database that contains all these elements and ensures that the archived data can be updated in the future.

Toward an Evidence-based Standard of Professional Competence

Psychotherapists are ethically bound to provide services within the boundaries of their competence traditionally delimited by their education, training, and supervised experience. Throughout this chapter, two historical examples illustrate the shortcomings of the current standard as well as the promise of an alternative. The guidelines now in place are critiqued in light of the empirical evidence. The authors propose that effectiveness become the foundation of any formulation and assessment of competence. Developments over the last two decades make it possible for clinicians to measure their results and compare them to international norms—a process known as routine outcome monitoring. However, mere measurement and comparison to benchmarks are insufficient. To be ethical, to protect public welfare, practitioners must also act on the data provided by routine outcome monitoring. Using feedback informed treatment and deliberate practice therapists can both enhance their responsiveness to individual clients and continuously improve their outcomes. Challenges of implementation are discussed. A case study of an agency that successfully adopted routine outcome monitoring coupled with deliberate practice using best practices gleaned from the implementation science literature is offered.

La evaluación de los aprendizajes. Problemas y soluciones

Resumen:Las preguntas clásicas acerca de la evaluación: para qué evaluar, qué evaluar, cómo evaluar o quién ha de evaluar los aprendizajes adquiridos por los estudiantes sigue siendo un tema recurrente y polémico en la literatura pedagógica actual que se reaviva periódicamente con motivo de la publicación de las distintas evaluaciones nacionales o internacionales o las polémicas “reválidas” de la LOMCE.En el ámbito académico coexisten la evaluación formativa y la evaluación certificadora, estableciéndose entre ambas profundas imbricaciones de las que no podemos sustraernos. Ello condiciona, inevitablemente, e incluso polariza todo el proceso de Enseñanza-Aprendizaje. Ambas funciones no son, en absoluto, excluyentes sino complementarias; evaluamos, fundamentalmente, para mejorar; pero, ¿cómo mejorar sin saber de dónde partimos ni adónde hemos llegado? Ciertamente, la mera medición, aislada, descontextualizada, sin consecuencias es un ejercicio estéril que, en el mejor de los casos, solo produce pérdida de recursos y de tiempo, pero también es cierto que no es posible la valoración y consiguiente toma de decisiones en función de esa valoración si no se parte de un conocimiento profundo de aquello que se quiere valorar.De la calidad de la medición: validez de los indicadores seleccionados, validez y fiabilidad de los instrumentos de evaluación elegidos e idoneidad de las condiciones de aplicación va a depender la calidad de la evaluación y por consiguiente la eficacia de las actuaciones que de ella se deriven.Así pues, en este artículo intentaremos aportar, justificadamente, tanto reflexiones de carácter teórico como útiles consideraciones de orden práctico que se debieran tener en cuenta a la hora de recoger y valorar los aprendizajes adquiridos por los estudiantes.Abstract:The classic questions about evaluation: why to evaluate, what to evaluate, how to evaluate, or who is to evaluate the learning acquired by the students are still a recurrent and controversial topic in the current pedagogic literature that periodically revives due to the publication of the different national or international assessments or the controversial "reválidas" of the LOMCE.In the academic field coexist formative assessment and certification assessment, establishing between the two deep overlapping of which we cannot ignore. This condition inevitably polarizes even entire E-A process. Both functions are not at all exclusive but complementary; we evaluate primarily to improve, but how to improve without knowing where we started from or where we come? Certainly, the mere measurement, isolated, decontextualized, without consequences is a sterile exercise, which in the best case only leads to loss of resources and time, on the other hand it is also true that it is not possible the assessment and subsequent decision making based on that valuation if it is not part of a thorough understanding of what we want to assess.The quality of the measurement-validity of selected indicators, validity and reliability of assessment instruments chosen and suitability of the conditions of application, will depend on the quality of assessment and therefore the effectiveness of the actions that she derived.Thus, in this article we will try to provide, justifiably, theoretical thoughts as well as useful practical considerations that should be considered when it comes to collect and evaluate the learning acquired by the students.

The roles of consumer ethnocentrism, animosity, and cosmopolitanism in sponsorship effects

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impacts of consumer ethnocentrism, animosity and cosmopolitanism on the effects of sponsorships on brand affect and brand trust, using latent growth modelling (LGM) to disentangle the static and dynamic components of brand affect and brand trust. Design/methodology/approach – An online panel of UK participants reported their perceptions of a French sponsor at three successive points (before, during and at the end of the 2012 London Olympics). Of the 903 respondents at T1, 694 remained at T2 (76.8 per cent) and 577 (63.9 per cent) remained at T3. Another 302 respondents only at T3 controlled for potential mere measurement effects. The data were analysed using LGM techniques. Findings – Due to sponsorship effects, brand affect and brand trust increased linearly over time. However, consumer ethnocentrism and animosity negatively moderated these increases. Cosmopolitanism enhanced brand affect but not brand trust. Research limitations/implications – As market globalisation exposes foreign firms to potential backlash from consumer nationalistic orientations towards their products, sponsorship strategies must consider the interplay between these nationalistic sentiments and sponsorship effects. While foreign sponsors are typically preoccupied with determining the fit between their brand and a local event, they must also consider individual-level nationalistic sentiments. The success of companies in foreign markets depends on creating favourable country-directed consumer attitudes. Originality/value – Beyond demonstrating the application of LGM to individual-level longitudinal analyses, this study extends sponsorship research by considering a previously unexplored area with key academic and managerial contributions, namely, the role of consumer nationalism in sponsorship effects. The strategic uses and outcomes of international sponsorship must be considered in conjunction with consumers’ perceptions of foreign brands from a nationalistic perspective.

Critical turns of aging, narrative and time

As human aging is basically living (in) time, time is a fundamental, but also uncomfortably uprooting concept for aging studies. However, time is usually reduced to chronometric time; a mere measurement that has been emptied of the narratives that were traditionally part of it. Its abstract and instrumental character implies that to become meaningful, chronometric time still depends on narratives. Not only are narratives needed to relate chronometric time to the world, they are also crucial to interrelate the dimensions of lived time: the past, the present and the future. As late modern aging takes place in multiform life worlds and in confrontation with a diversity of social systems, political and cultural macro-narratives play an important role in shaping situations and destinies of aging people. However, because of the prestigious exactness of chronometric time and the role it plays in calculations and statistics, narratives tend to creep in and remain hidden behind chronometric exactness. It is argued that micro-narratives remain important for empirical studies of aging as they articulate human experiences, but that narratives also play an increasingly important role in the interrelation between systemic worlds and life worlds. Therefore, narrative studies should seek more cooperation and critical discussion with disciplines that study macro developments such as sociology, economics or political science to clarify the role of macronarratives in policies on aging. The article ends with a contemporary example of new systemic (debt) clocks which have a major impact on the lives of many citizens, especially the aged. Although these clocks remain dependent on specific macro-narratives, their ominous ticking tends to hide them and to implode the debate about them.