Measuring scientific contributions with modified fractional counting

We develop and propose a new counting method at the aggregate level for contributions to scientific publications called modified fractional counting (MFC). We show that, compared to traditional complete-normalized fractional counting, it eliminates the extreme differences in contributions over time that otherwise occur between scientists that mainly publish alone or in small groups and those that publish with large groups of co-authors. As an extra benefit we find that scientists in different areas of research turn out to have comparable average contributions to scientific articles. We test the method on scientists at Norway’s largest universities and find that, at an aggregate level, it indeed supports comparability across different co-authorship practices as well as between areas of research. MFC is thereby useful whenever the research output from institutions with different research profiles are compared, as e.g., in the Leiden Ranking. Finally, as MFC is actually a family of indicators, depending on a sensitivity parameter, it can be adapted to the circumstances.     

Infinite sequences and their h-type indices

Starting from the notion of h-type indices for infinite sequences we investigate if these indices satisfy natural inequalities related to the arithmetic, the geometric and the harmonic mean. If f denotes an h-type index, such as the h- or the g-index, then we investigate inequalities such as min(f(X),f(Y)) ≤ f((X?+?Y)/2) ≤ max(f(X), f(Y)). We further investigate if: f(min(X,Y)) = min(f(X),f(Y)) and if f(max(X,Y)) = max(f(X),f(Y)). It is shown that the h-index satisfies all the equalities and inequalities we investigate but the g-index does not always, while it is always possible to find a counterexample involving the R-index. This shows that the h-index enjoys a number of interesting mathematical properties as an operator in the partially ordered positive cone (R⁺)^∞ of all infinite sequences with non-negative real values.In a second part we consider decreasing vectors X and Y with components at most at distance d. Denoting by D the constant sequence (d,d,d, …) and by Y-D the vector (max(y_r-d), 0)_r, we prove that under certain natural conditions, the double inequality h(Y-D) ≤ h(X) ≤ h(Y?+?D) holds.     

Relationships of attitude toward classroom environment with attitude toward and achievement in science among tenth grade biology students

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of classroom environment to attitudes toward science and achievement in science among tenth grade biology students. An attitude instrument was administered at three times during the school year to measure student attitudes toward science and the classroom environment. The classroom environment measures examined six areas: emotional climate of the science classroom, science curriculum, physical environment of the science classroom, science teacher, other students in the science classroom, and friends attitudes toward science. Student achievement in science was measured by teacher reported semester grades. The results of the study indicated: (1) student attitudes toward the classroom environment predicted between 56 to 61% of the variance in attitudes toward science, (2) student attitudes toward the classroom environment predicted between 5 to 14% of the variance in achievement in science, (3) student attitudes toward science and attitudes toward the classroom environment predicted between 8 and 18% of the variance in achievement in science.     

Content Validity Studies of Licensing Examinations

Can measurement specialists’current ideas about content validation be implemented with licensure examinations? Does pressure of litigation facilitate or inhibit conducting validity studies?