Parsimony and Model Evaluation

Marsh and Hau (1996) argued that certain models should not be penalized for having low parsimony because an appropriate model for the data may require estimating more parameters. Mulaik argues that Marsh and Hau misunderstand the concept of parsimony, particularly its role in testing a hypothesis about an incompletely specified model to establish its objective validity. More parsimonious models represent more complete hypotheses having more ways of being tested and possibly being disconfirmed. Mulaik also shows that even within the context of the models used in Marsh and Hau's examples, there are much more parsimonious versions of those models that could have been hypothesized and tested, with good fit.     

Multiple Indicator Stationary Time Series Models

This article is intended to complement previous research (Sivo, 1997; Sivo & Willson, 1998, in press) by discussing the propriety and practical advantages of specifying multivariate time series models in the context of structural equation modeling for time series and longitudinal panel data. Three practical considerations motivated this article. Unlike Marsh (1993), Sivo and Willson (2000) did not offer multiple indicator (latent order) equivalents to their autoregressive (AR), moving average (MA), and autoregressive-moving average (ARMA) models. Moreover, such models have yet to be discussed, despite Marsh's (1993) advocacy for multiple indicator models in general. Further motivating multiple indicator extensions of the AR, MA, and ARMA equivalent models is the fact that longitudinal studies often collect data on more than 1 related variable per occasion. Such multiple indicator models capitalize on 1 of the chief analytical advantages of structural equation modeling in that measurement error may be estimated directly.     

An Experiment with Multiple Choice Vocabulary Tests Constructed by two Different Procedures

Marsh and Hau (1996) based the assertion that parsimony is not always desirable when assessing model fit on a particular counterexample drawn from Marsh's previous research. This counterexample is neither general nor valid enough to support such a thesis. More specifically, the counterexample signals an oversight of extant, stochastic models justifying correlated uniquenesses, namely, moving-average and autoregressive moving-average models. Such models provide theoretically plausible motives for a priori specification of error correlations. In fact, when uniquenesses are correlated, stochastic models other than the conventional simplex and quasi-simplex models must be tested before positive identification of the process is possible (Sivo, 1997). In short, exchanging the mechanistic penalties for model complexity for the mechanistic specification of untenable measurement-error covariances offers no solution. Parsimony has not been dismissed based on the argument Marsh and Hau presented concerning longitudinal data.     

More on time series designs: A reanalysis of mayer and Kozlow's data

A recent article by Mayer and Kozlow introduces a time series experiment to science education researchers. This article examines in greater detail design considerations and reanalyzes their data using time series analysis. The first applications of time series experimental methodology to science education research were reported by Mayer and Lewis (1979) and by Mayer and Kozlow (1980). This article discusses Mayer and Kozlow's work and presents a reanalysis of their data which is intended to be heuristic, not critical. (All data were supplied by Dr. Mayer and permission was granted to use the data.) Both design and analysis will be examined. It is important to distinguish time series experimental design from time series analysis. The former, as presented by Campbell and Stanley (1966) and detailed by Glass, Willson, and Gottman (1975), is concerned with structuring treatment conditions and observations over time to make causal inferences. Time series analysis is a set of statistical techniques from which an appropriate technique can be selected to analyze collected data in the framework of a time series design. Just as data from in a randomized experiment might be analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance or a Kruskal- Wallis H-test, data from a time series design may be subjected to several alternative analysis techniques.     

Testing Nested Additive,Multiplicative, and General Multitrait-Multimethod Models

The article gives alternatives to Campbell and O'Connell's (1967) definitions of additive and multiplicative method effects in multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data. The alternative definitions can be formulated by means of constraints in the parameters of the correlated uniqueness (CU) model (Marsh, 1989), which is first reviewed. The definitions have 2 major advantages. First, they allow the researcher to test for additive and multiplicative method effects in a straightforward manner by simply testing the appropriate constraints. An illustration of these tests is given. Second, the alternative definitions are closely linked to other currently used models. The article shows that CU models with additive constraints are equivalent to constrained versions of the confirmatory factor analysis model for MTMM data (Althauser, Heberlein, & Scott, 1971; Werts & Linn, 1970). In addition, Coenders and Saris (1998) showed that, for designs with 3 methods, a CU model with multiplicative constraints is equivalent to the direct product model (Browne, 1984).     

Δ2 and χ2 I2 fit indices for structural equation models: A brief note of clarification

Marsh and Balla (1986) and Marsh, Balla, and McDonald (1988) proposed an index of fit called χ²I2, but McDonald and Marsh (1990) subsequently demonstrated that the index is biased and recommended that it not be used. Bollen (1989) independently proposed Δ2 which is the same as χ²I2 (hereafter referred to as χ²I2‐Δ2), indicating that it adjusts for sample size and degrees of freedom (df). Gerbing and Anderson (1992), apparently based on the assumption that the χ²I2‐Δ2 index is unbiased and appropriately corrects for df (penalizes a lack of parsimony), recommended its use, and the index is routinely presented by major computer programs (e.g., EQS and LISREL 8). However, a more critical evaluation of the χ²I2‐Δ2 index reveals that: (a) it is systematically biased (i.e., its value varies systematically with N) although the size of the bias may be small; (b) the adjustment for df is inappropriate in that it penalizes model parsimony instead of model complexity; and (c) the inappropriate penalty for model parsimony is larger for small N. Because of these undesirable properties, the χ²I2‐Δ2 index is not recommended for routine use.     

Discovering the More: Reading Wright's,Colette's,and Cather's Texts as Philosophy of Education

Rather than using literary texts to evidence an analytic argument, within this piece we read Julia McNair Wright's (US, 1840–1902), Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette's (France, 1873–1954), and Willa Cather's (US, 1873–1947) texts through theoretical lenses that expose their educational meaning and value and that create conversation among them concerning girls’ and women's educations. While we do not claim that one can generalize these women's works and lessons to every life, we contend that these women and the literary products they created offer girls and women powerful lessons about resistance, subversion, and nurturing one's intellect, lessons that in some ways transcend class and race in particular. First, we define and explain Bruner's concept of the more using Rosenblatt, Gallagher, and Gardner's theories and findings to illuminate his concept. Next, we identify and examine three themes that emerge across these authors’ texts—subverting through the everyday, becoming one's own steward, and moving from survival to self-actualization. Establishing these themes first in Wright's texts, we then use them to frame Colette's and Cather's fiction and support these themes by focusing on one lesson that emerges from each author's work(s). Finally, we ask what one might learn about educating girls and women from these texts and others whose educative meaning and value remain hidden.     

College physical chemistry students' conceptions of equilibrium and fundamental thermodynamics

Hour-long structured interviews were conducted with 16 volunteer students from four undergraduate physical chemistry classes. Many student alternative conceptions and nonconceptions were expressed about important material covering equilibrium and thermodynamics. Twenty-nine of these were prevalent (present in >25% of the students.) The student conceptions expressed in their interviews were compared with those expressed by experts in textbooks and rated using a 6-point rubric. These ratings were averaged into a rating in each of four subjects and an overall rating. Correlation indices were computed. The “quality of student conception” rating was best predicted by an aggregated t score for the results on instructor-designed in-class exams. This result indicates that instructor's exams and grades do in fact demonstrate the level of a student's understanding of this course material. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 1151–1160, 1998.     

Exploring the latent structure of the Luria model for the KABC‐II at school age: Further insights from confirmatory factor analysis

The present study examined the factor structure of the Luria interpretive model for the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children‐Second Edition (KABC‐II) with normative sample participants aged 7–18 (N = 2,025) using confirmatory factor analysis with maximum‐likelihood estimation. For the eight subtest Luria configuration, an alternative higher‐order model with Pattern Reasoning being permitted to cross‐load on the Planning and Simultaneous Processing factors provided the best fit to the normative sample data. Variance apportionment suggests that additional consideration, beyond the omnibus Mental Processing Index, of the contribution of the first‐order factor‐based scores (i.e., SQ, SM, P, and L), and in some cases the individual subtests themselves, may be warranted. Implications for clinical interpretation and the anticipated normative update of the measurement instrument are discussed.     

Examining Associations Between Effortful Control and Teacher–Child Relationships in Relation to Head Start Children's Socioemotional Adjustment

Research Findings: The current project examined the unique and interactive relations of child effortful control and teacher–child relationships to low-income preschoolers' socioemotional adjustment. One hundred and forty Head Start children (77 boys and 63 girls), their parents, lead teachers, and teacher assistants participated in this study. Parents provided information on child effortful control, whereas lead teachers provided information on their relationships with students. Teacher assistants provided information on children's socioemotional adjustment (emotional symptoms, peer problems, conduct problems, prosocial behaviors) in the preschool classroom. Both teacher–child closeness and conflict were significantly related to low-income preschoolers' socioemotional adjustment (i.e., emotional symptoms, peer problems, conduct problems, and prosocial behaviors) in expected directions. In addition, teacher–child conflict was significantly associated with emotional symptoms and peer problems among children with low effortful control; however, teacher–child conflict was not significantly associated with socioemotional difficulties among children with high effortful control. Teacher–child closeness, on the other hand, was associated with fewer socioemotional difficulties regardless of children's level of effortful control. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in terms of (a) the utility of intervention efforts focusing on promoting positive teacher–child interactions and enhancing child self-regulatory abilities and (b) the implications for children's socioemotional adjustment.     

Some Ethical Considerations:

This commentary addresses some of the ethical considerations that arise when the college consultant attempts to strike a balance between the parsimony of Shakespeare's Cordelia and the "can-do" posture of Pirandello's Guido. Particular emphasis is given to the ethical implications of mandatory psychotherapy. As well, the author's clinical examples are analyzed and alternative approaches to those that were used in the vignettes are recommended.     

Distributed Scaffolding in a Service-Learning Course

This article argues that the instructional scaffolding metaphor may be reconceived as distributed scaffolding when multiple means of influence are provided in a service-learning setting. In the service-learning course described here, the professor's role is largely as designer of activity settings for preservice teacher candidates, through which the students construct their own conceptions of teaching culturally diverse populations. The course involves a set of interrelated settings: a tutoring experience at the city's alternative high school; the reading of books from a menu of texts that cover a range of diversity topics; the discussion of these books in book club meetings independent of the professor's direct influence; and the whole-class discussion of these texts, led by each student book club. The distributed nature of the course scaffolding is illustrated with an excerpt from one book club's discussion.     

王微的“疾病书写”及其文学史意义

寒食(五石)散中毒引起的药源性疾病深刻影响了刘宋王微的文学创作,相较于皇甫谧和王羲之、王献之父子等前辈作家,王微将石药中毒情形的描写与病人幽微情绪的传达有机地融为一体,其文"怨思抑扬",具有感人至深的力量。与今人对中国古代文学"疾病书写"传统的通常认知不同,它表明,至晚在刘宋时期,作家们就已经开始在文学创作中把"病残之躯的展示"和"生命意义的思考"有机结合起来,此举丰富了文学的题材、拓展了文学表现世俗生活的疆域,为后世的"涉病文学"创作提供了资源,是晋唐"疾病书写"传统演进过程中的重要一环。     

Engaging White parents to address their White children's racial biases in the Black-White context

Multiple studies (n = 1065 parents, 625 females, 437 males, 3 nonbinary, 99.06% White; n = 80, 5 to 7-year-old children, 35 girls, 45 boys, 87.50% White; data collection September 2017–January 2021) investigated White U.S. parents' thinking about White children's Black-White racial biases. In Studies 1–3, parents reported that their own and other children would not express racial biases. When predicting children's social preferences for Black and White children (Study 2), parents underestimated their own and other children's racial biases. Reading an article about the nature, prevalence, and consequences of White children's racial biases (Study 3) increased parents' awareness of, concern about, and motivation to address children's biases (relative to a control condition). The findings have implications for engaging White parents to address their children's racial biases.     

Transactional Links Between Teacher–Child Relationship Quality and Perceived Versus Sociometric Popularity: A Three‐Wave Longitudinal Study

This study examined how peer relationships (i.e., sociometric and perceived popularity) and teacher–child relationships (i.e., support and conflict) impact one another throughout late childhood. The sample included 586 children (46% boys), followed annually from Grades 4 to 6 (M_age.wave1 = 9.26 years). Autoregressive cross‐lagged modeling was applied. Results stress the importance of peer relationships in shaping teacher–child relationships and vice versa. Higher sociometric popularity predicted more teacher–child support, which in turn predicted higher sociometric popularity, beyond changes in children's prosocial behavior. Higher perceived popularity predicted more teacher–child conflict (driven by children's aggressive behavior), which, in turn and in itself, predicted higher perceived popularity. The influence of the “invisible hand” of both teachers and peers in classrooms has been made visible.     

Friendly enemies: Student Tolerance in a Liberal University

Abstract

This article considers whether the methodology used for research determines the viewpoint of the researcher, or whether the researcher's view of the world determines the methodology. The purpose of the article is to consider some of the questions arising from the author's endeavour to conceptualise a methodological framework for a doctoral analysis of the Australian Commonwealth Literacy Policy Literacy for All: The Challenge for Australian Schools (DEETYA 1998).     

The student–teacher relationship quality in children with selective mutism

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare anxiety disorder that compromises children's daily life during critical periods of early development. Because school is a prime context for the manifestation of the disorder, the aim of this study was to investigate the quality of the student–teacher relationship and its effects on behavior and work, and on social and relational skills. The sample consisted of 75 children—15 were affected by SM, with 60 in the control group—and 15 teachers. The results showed greater difficulty on the teacher's part to establish a relationship based on affective closeness with a child affected by SM, compared to that with unaffected children. Nevertheless, an encouraging picture emerges of the inclusion and integration of the child with SM among peers and therefore in the class group.     

Singing into Language: Sudanese Australian young women create public pedagogy

This article examines the ethnocinematic research project Cross-Marked: Sudanese Australian Young Women Talk Education, and its relationship to the evolving notion of public pedagogies. The project explores the potential of alternative pedagogies, which include popular culture, especially audiovisual forms, to engage teachers and learners with one another in collaborative pedagogical methods. The author's collaborative work with students from refugee backgrounds involves what Giroux calls a ‘spectrum of social practices’ utilising a variety of media platforms. This article draws from the lived experiences of one particular co-participant, Achol Baroch, and her 15 Sudanese Australian co-participants. Their experiences of secondary education are traced through this arts-based participatory project using the emerging practice of ethnocinema, a type of ethnographic documentary film which is generative, interculturally collaborative and aligned with the transformative goals of critical pedagogy.