Local Observed‐Score Kernel Equating

Three local observed‐score kernel equating methods that integrate methods from the local equating and kernel equating frameworks are proposed. The new methods were compared with their earlier counterparts with respect to such measures as bias—as defined by Lord's criterion of equity—and percent relative error. The local kernel item response theory observed‐score equating method, which can be used for any of the common equating designs, had a small amount of bias, a low percent relative error, and a relatively low kernel standard error of equating, even when the accuracy of the test was reduced. The local kernel equating methods for the nonequivalent groups with anchor test generally had low bias and were quite stable against changes in the accuracy or length of the anchor test. Although all proposed methods showed small percent relative errors, the local kernel equating methods for the nonequivalent groups with anchor test design had somewhat larger standard error of equating than their kernel method counterparts.     

Looking at Losing: Presentations of the Media's Narrative of the Cleveland Browns’ Relocation

On November 6, 1995, Art Modell announced his intention to relocate the National Football League's (NFL) Cleveland Browns to Baltimore following the season. After 4 months of civic activism from Cleveland's community and legal action from the city's politicians, Cleveland, the NFL and Modell agreed to a deal that allowed the long-time owner to honour his contract with Baltimore and simultaneously provided a NFL club to Cleveland to begin play in 1999. This settlement was unique because it allowed Cleveland to retain the naming rights, colours, logo and, most significantly, the history of the Browns. Media presentations of Modell's announcement during the 4-month period illuminated a complex symbiotic relationship between the press, the public and sports entrepreneurs. The local media castigated and vilified Modell for betraying Cleveland's community and disturbing the city's supposed ‘renaissance’, while the national media connected with Cleveland as a leading member of the dilapidated ‘Rustbelt’ in the new American economy. These interconnections led fans, followers and other pundits of the NFL to question the actions of football entrepreneurs and provided a platform at the turn-of-the twenty-first century for sustained criticism of the business of professional sports, franchise relocation and the widening social class divide in the NFL.     

Associations between socio‐economic status (including school‐ and pupil‐level interactions) and student perceptions of school environment and health in English secondary schools

This article examines interactions between school‐level and pupil‐level measures of socio‐economic status for pupil reports of the school environment and a range of risk behaviours and health outcomes. The baseline survey for the INCLUSIVE trial provided data on pupil affluence and pupil reports of the school environment, smoking, drinking, anti‐social behaviour at school, quality of life and psychological wellbeing for over 6,000 pupils (aged 11–12 years) in 40 schools within a 1‐hour train journey from central London. The level of socio‐economic disadvantage of the school was measured using the percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals. Multilevel regression models examined the association between pupil affluence, the socio‐economic composition of the school and the interaction between these with the school environment, risk behaviours and health outcomes. Our findings provide some evidence for interactions, suggesting that less affluent pupils reported lower psychological wellbeing and quality of life in schools with more socio‐economically advantaged intakes. There appears to be a complex relationship for anti‐social behaviour. Where pupil affluence and school socio‐economic composition were discordant, pupils reported a higher number of anti‐social behaviours. This article provides further evidence that less affluent pupils are more likely to engage in a variety of risk behaviours and experience worse health outcomes when they attend schools with more socio‐economically advantaged intakes, supporting some of the mechanisms described in the theory of human functioning and school organisation.     

The effect of intensity and frequency of intermittent punishment in acquisition on resistance to extinction of an approach response in the rat

Rats trained to make an approach response with either nonreward or 150- or 175-V shock occurring on 2, 3, or 4 of 6 daily trials showed greater resistance to extinction than continuously reinforced-unpunished controls. Persistence during extinction was a function of both the type and the frequency of response-contingent event in acquisition. The significant interaction of these two factors was best interpreted as a result of the counterconditioning of the approach response (Amsel, 1972) to anticipatory conditions which varied in similarity to the frustrative nonreward of extinction.     

Conceptual Issues in Response-Time Modeling

Two different traditions of response-time (RT) modeling are reviewed: the tradition of distinct models for RTs and responses, and the tradition of model integration in which RTs are incorporated in response models or the other way around. Several conceptual issues underlying both traditions are made explicit and analyzed for their consequences. We then propose a hierarchical modeling framework consistent with the first tradition but with the integration of their parameter structures as a second level of modeling. Two examples of the framework are presented. Also, a fundamental equation is derived which relates the RTs on test items to the speed of the test taker and the time intensity of the items. The equation serves as the core of the RT model in the framework. Finally, empirical applications of the framework demonstrating its practical value are reviewed.     

The Impact of Research Training and Research Codes of Practice on Submission of Doctoral Degrees: An Exploratory Cohort Study

The paper examines the impact of the transformations in doctoral education in the arts, humanities and social sciences in the United Kingdom over the past decade. It focuses on the introduction of formal research training and codes of research practice and in the first longitudinal candidate cohort study examines their impact on doctoral outcomes, especially Ph.D. submission rates. Results from this quantitative study show that engagement with research training, completion of a project outline and plan and appointment of a supervisory team were statistically positively associated with submission of the thesis within four years. It is concluded that the professionalisation of doctoral education by research training and codes of research practice has had a positive impact on doctoral educational outcomes.