Techniques of editorial research in electrical engineering

This survey of the literature on research writing describes a procedure for supplementing laboratory work with a search of engineering and scientific publications. A systematic method is suggested for locating literature sources, collecting and classifying notes, and incorporating the material into a research paper.Editorial research is shown to be of value in preventing duplication of effort in laboratory investigations.     

Print Media

Bernard M. Fry and Herbert S. White's Publishers and Libraries: A Study of Scholarly and Research Journals (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books/D.C. Heath, 1976—price not given, but about $15.00)

Karl I.R. Arndt and May E. Olsen's The German Language Press of the Americas, Volume I: History and Bibliography 1732-1968, United States of America (Munich: Verlag Dokumentation [New York: Unipub] , 1976—DM 148, or $52.00)

The Reader's Advisor: A Layman's Guide to Literature, 12th Edition (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1977—three volumes for $69.95 per set, or $25.00 per volume if purchased separately)

Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan (eds.) Popular Writing in America: The Interaction of Style and Audience, Shorter, Alternate Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977—$5.00, paper)     

Parental Age and Offspring Childhood Mental Health: A Multi-Cohort,Population-Based Investigation

To examine the contributions of maternal and paternal age on offspring externalizing and internalizing problems, this study analyzed problem behaviors at age 10–12 years from four Dutch population-based cohorts (N = 32,892) by a multiple informant design. Bayesian evidence synthesis was used to combine results across cohorts with 50% of the data analyzed for discovery and 50% for confirmation. There was evidence of a robust negative linear relation between parental age and externalizing problems as reported by parents. In teacher-reports, this relation was largely explained by parental socio-economic status. Parental age had limited to no association with internalizing problems. Thus, in this large population-based study, either a beneficial or no effect of advanced parenthood on child problem behavior was observed.     

What Paves the Way to Conventional Language? The Predictive Value of Babble,Pointing, and Socioeconomic Status

A child's first words mark the emergence of a uniquely human ability. Theories of the developmental steps that pave the way for word production have proposed that either vocal or gestural precursors are key. These accounts were tested by assessing the developmental synchrony in the onset of babbling, pointing, and word production for 46 infants observed monthly between the ages of 9 and 18 months. Babbling and pointing did not develop in tight synchrony and babble onset alone predicted first words. Pointing and maternal education emerged as predictors of lexical knowledge only in relation to a measure taken at 18 months. This suggests a far more important role for early phonological development in the creation of the lexicon than previously thought.     

The equal correlation baseline model: Comment and constructive alternatives

Rigdon (this issue) proposes a new “null” (or baseline) model (M₌) for computing incremental fit indices in which all measured variables are equally correlated as compared to the traditional null model (M₀) in which all measured variables are uncorrelated. Whereas it is clear that the use of M₌ results in different values than M₀, there is little evidence to suggest that M₌ is more useful than M₀ and some evidence suggesting that it might be less useful. General concerns with M₌ include (a) the problem of negatively oriented variables, (b) an apparently illusory sense of greater discrimination, (c) standards for an “acceptable” model, (d) the use of M₌ to control method or halo effects, and (e) potential usefulness of M₌ as a basis of statistical inference. Whereas the disadvantages of this new null model apparently outweigh potential advantages, a constructive compromise would retain M₀ as the traditional null model but place more emphasis on the comparative fit of alternative models within a nested (or partially nested) sequence that could include M₌.     

Evaluating Interventions with Multimethod Data: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

In many intervention and evaluation studies, outcome variables are assessed using a multimethod approach comparing multiple groups over time. In this article, we show how evaluation data obtained from a complex multitrait–multimethod–multioccasion–multigroup design can be analyzed with structural equation models. In particular, we show how the structural equation modeling approach can be used to (a) handle ordinal items as indicators, (b) test measurement invariance, and (c) test the means of the latent variables to examine treatment effects. We present an application to data from an evaluation study of an early childhood prevention program. A total of 659 children in intervention and control groups were rated by their parents and teachers on prosocial behavior and relational aggression before and after the program implementation. No mean change in relational aggression was found in either group, whereas an increase in prosocial behavior was found in both groups. Advantages and limitations of the proposed approach are highlighted.