The use of generalizability theory to estimate data reliability in single‐subject observational research

Direct observation of behaviors is a data collection method customarily used in clinical and educational settings. Repeated measures and small samples are inherent characteristics of observational studies that pose challenges to the numerical estimation of reliability for observational data. In this article, we review some debates about the use of Generalizability Theory in estimating reliability of single‐subject observational data. We propose that it could be used but under a clearly stated set of conditions. The conceptualization of facets and object of measurement for a common design of observational research is elucidated under a different light. We provide two numerical examples to illustrate the ideas. Limitations of using Generalizability Theory to estimate reliability of observational data are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 433–439, 2007.     

Continuity of Care: Primary Caregiving in Singapore

Early Childhood Education Journal - Child care centres in many developed countries have expanded exponentially due to the increased participation of women in the workforce. Consequently, children...     

Mainland immigrant and Hong Kong local students’ psychological sense of school membership

A Chinese version of the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale was developed to find out the subjective PSSM of Mainland immigrant and local Hong Kong students. Five schools participated with 295 boys and 252 girls from Primary years 4, 5, and 6 taking part. Among those, 264 students were local Hong Kong students, while 283 were Mainland immigrant students who claimed that they had lived in Hong Kong for 7 years or less. The Chinese version of the PSSM scale was found to be reliable, and interestingly, Mainland immigrant students were found to have a significantly higher sense of school belonging, but had a lower feeling of rejection than Hong Kong students did. Results would be useful to understand how students feel towards support in school.     

Norming of Tests with Primary One Pupils

Researchers who use tests developed in countries other than their own are faced with two fundamental problems. Firstly, some items in the test may have cultural-linguistic biases. Secondly, the reference group on which the foreign test norm has been established can be rather dissimilar to the local group if the same test is to be used. These may render the validity of the test results suspect.     

Associations of Warmth and Control of Filipina Domestic Helpers and Mothers to Hong Kong Kindergarten Children's Social Competence

Research Findings: Across 63 Hong Kong families, both Filipina domestic helpers and mothers separately rated their own caregiving style (warmth and control) and kindergarten children's social competence. Results indicated that Filipina helpers rated themselves as higher in warmth than mothers did. In addition, self-rated warmth of both caregivers, and Filipina domestic helpers' self-perceived control were correlated with children's social competence. With ratings of warmth and control from both Filipina helpers and mothers included in separate regression equations, mothers' warmth was a strong unique correlate of all measures of children's social competence. However, Filipinas' warmth was uniquely associated with children's responsibility only, whereas their control was uniquely associated with children's assertion and responsibility. Practice or Policy: Results extend previous research on the importance of nonparental caregivers for children's social development in a new cultural context.     

Public Communication of Climate Change Science: Engaging Citizens Through Apocalyptic Narrative Explanation

Working from the premise that public input is essential to science policy deliberations, we analyze how two recent works of public communication about climate change (An Inconvenient Truth and Climate Change Show) draw on the rhetorical resource of apocalyptic narrative explanation to promote scientific fluency and inspire citizen engagement in the issues. By weaving together the proofs of ethos, logos, and pathos within a framework of cultural rationality, these narratives illustrate available means of persuasion for stimulating the public's informed participation in science policy discussions.     

Passive optical separation and enrichment of cells by size difference

A size-selective cell sorting microfluidic device that utilizes optical force is developed. The device consists of a three-dimensional polydimethylsiloxane microstructure comprised of two crossed microchannels in a three-dimensional configuration. A line shaped focused laser beam is used for automatic size-selective cell sorting in a continuous flow environment. As yeast cells in an aqueous medium are fed continuously into a lower channel, the line shaped focused laser beam is applied (perpendicular to the direction of flow) at the junction of the two crossed channels. The scattering force of the laser beam was employed to push cells matching specific criteria upward from one channel to another. The force depends on the size of the cells, the laser power, and the fluid flow speed. The variation in size of yeast cells causes them to follow different routes at the intersection. For flow speeds below 30 μm∕s, all yeast cells larger than 3 μm were removed from the main stream. As a result, a high purity sample of small cells can be collected at the outlet of bottom channel.     

Why do Chinese students cheat? Initial findings based on the self-reports of high school students in China

Academic dishonesty is recognised as a serious problem in Australia, and educators have been searching for ways to prevent its escalation. It is important to understand what factors influence cheating. This study used a sample of 446 grade 7 to 9 students, 160 from Macao and 286 from Zhuhai in China, to examine the personal and contextual aspects of academic dishonesty. The findings suggest that involvement and task orientation in the classroom environment (contextual aspects) and intrinsic value and utility value (personal aspects) are associated with students’ attitudes toward the acceptability of cheating and cheating behaviour in mathematics. Some suggestions for reducing academic dishonesty are included in the paper.     

Predicting children’s academic achievement from early assessment scores: a validity generalization study

Although there have been numerous studies investigating the predictive validity of early assessment, observed predictive validity coefficients across studies are not stable. A validity generalization study was conducted in order to answer the question of whether the relationship between early assessment of children and later achievement is generalizable or situation-specific. This study examined 716 predictive correlation coefficients from 44 studies using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The findings of this study revealed that predictive validity of early assessment is not generalizable. Additional analyses indicated that predictive validity differ across assessments as a function of test type, specific construct being assessed, length of prediction, and administration procedures. The most impressive finding in this study was the variability of effect sizes across different test administration types. In particular, tests that were scored through ratings were found to be most effective. These findings suggest that instead of addressing a broad predictive validity between a test and a criterion measure, it is necessary to understand early assessment procedures as a whole system by including considerations of various variables related to testing conditions.