Errors of inference in structural equation modeling

Although structural equation modeling (SEM) is one of the most comprehensive and flexible approaches to data analysis currently available, it is nonetheless prone to researcher misuse and misconceptions. This article offers a brief overview of the unique capabilities of SEM and discusses common sources of user error in drawing conclusions from these analyses. We make recommendations to guide proper analytical practices and appropriate inferences and provide references for more advanced study. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 461–470, 2007.     

Factors related to the underachievement of university students in Turkey

The study aims to elucidate the characteristics of gifted underachievers at the university level and the reasons for their underachievement. The sample consisted of students from Bogazici University in Istanbul. The School Attitude Assessment Survey‐Revised (SAAS‐R) instrument was administered to 91 underachievers and a comparison group of 74 university students. The instrument employed five subscales: academic self‐perceptions, attitudes toward teachers, attitudes toward school, goal valuation, and motivation/self‐regulation. Findings indicated that the comparison students and the underachieving students differed on all five subscales of the SAAS‐R. In addition, the instrument correctly classified almost 80% of the students in the present sample as either underachievers or comparison students. Among the five subscales, the motivation/self‐regulation subscale was most predictive of underachievement status.     

Education Trifecta: Win Attention,Place Knowledge,Show Understanding

Continuing education for librarians and educating library school students in the areas of technical services are topics often discussed within the field of librarianship. The presenters in this session provided alternatives to “on the job” education for technical services professionals. Two presenters provided strategies for instructing an online continuing education course on acquisitions. The third presenter shared information about the development and teaching of a serials course at a library school.     

CORRESPONDENCE INSTRUCTION FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRACTITIONERS IN THE FIELD OF AGING

Institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada are demonstrating an increasing interest in the field of social gerontology. However, many practitioners already working in the field find it difficult, if not impossible, to enter “full‐time” formal programs of graduate study. Correspondence instruction could prove to be one of the most effective means of providing educational opportunities about aging to individuals either working or contemplating working with the aged. This paper summarizes the results of a study conducted to determine what is available in the field of aging through correspondence instruction at accredited institutions in the United States and Canada. There were 85 institutions offering correspondence instruction surveyed; 51 of these institutions (60%) offer correspondence instruction courses that are related, in one way or another, to the field of aging. A total of 99 aging or aging‐related correspbndence courses are identified.     

Digital Discernment: An E‐Commerce Web Site Evaluation Tool

Students entering the business workforce today may well share some responsibility for developing, revising, or evaluating their company's Web site. They may lack the experience, however, to critique their employer's Web presence effectively. The purpose of developing Digital Discernment, an e‐commerce Web site evaluation tool, was to prepare students for this work. The tool provides them with a listing of criteria with which to assess e‐commerce sites, lets them evaluate pre‐selected sites qualitatively and quantitatively, and allows them to compare their evaluations with their peers. In this article, we discuss and examine the effectiveness of this tool and consider the ways in which it can help students in their future business careers.     

The Organizational Tension of Othering

In this paper narratives submitted to this issue are reviewed and critiqued using the feminist lenses of othering and organizational irrationality. Four emergent themes in the narratives are identified and discussed, with the themes and the feminist critique of them used to provide a set of recommendations for developing researcher-IRB working relationships.