فصلنامه اندازه گیری تربیتی
پیاپی 9 (پاییز 1391)

Academic delay of gratification predicts academic performance, motivation, self-regulation and self-efficacy in students. Due to the importance of academic delay of gratification in teaching-learning processes, there is a need for special tools proportional to the Iranian culture. The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of Persian form academic delay of gratification scale, including reliability, validity, and factor analysis. The population consisted of Iranian high school students from Karaj (N = 600, 326 boys and 274 girls) who were selected based on multistage cluster sampling. They were tested by academic delay of gratification scale and motivated strategies for learning questionnaire. Test-retest reliability academic delay of gratification scale based on the results of two performance tests and its internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated and confirmed. To analyze the concurrent validity and to determine the validity factor motivation strategy-learning questionnaire was used, which indicated that concurrent validity is adequate. In addition, results indicated that the separate confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for the male and female samples showed a goodness of fit with the data. The findings of factor analysis as well as the reliability and validity coefficients were similar to the previous studies conducted in the original culture. Regarding its good psychometric properties, the scale is an appropriate instrument to measure student's academic delay of gratification.

The present paper mainly aims to do confirmatory factor analysis of the attitude towards research and its relationship with self–handicapping and self-efficacy among the last semester master students of Kurdistan University.The study adopted a correlative design (factor analysis via oblique rotation with direct OBLIMIN and confirmatory factor analysis were used for testing the validity of instruments and correlation was used for testing the relationship between variables). To do confirmatory factor analysis and to examine the relationship between attitude towards research and self–handicapping and self-efficacy, 400 subjects were randomly selected from among master students of the educational year 2010-2011. The participants completed the Attitude toward Research (ATR), criterion of self-efficacy and self–handicapping and pattern of adaptive learning scales questionnaires. Then the data was analyzed using factor analysis via oblique rotation with direct OBLIMIN, confirmatory factor analysis and regression correlation coefficient. The results of factor analysis via oblique rotation with direct OBLIMIN were indicative of five factors being influential in attitude towards research and then these factors were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency reliability coefficients including Cronbach’s alpha and split-half coefficients were of a satisfactory value (respectively 89% and 87%) for 30 items and 5 factors. Correlation coefficients for ATR questionnaires and self–handicapping and self-efficacy questionnaires were respectively 0.51 and -0.43 which are significant at (P<0001) level. Moreover, the T-test showed that there was no significant difference between male and female students.The results of factor analysis are consistent with prior findings. Considering high validity and reliability value of ATR questionnaires, they can be used in research and academic settings. We can also reduce self–handicapping rate in doing research tasks and increase self-efficacy rate of researches through emphasis on positive attitude towards research.

The present study aims to examine the relationship between students’ psychological profile in Wechsler intelligence test for children –fourth edition– (WISC_IV) and multiple intelligence (MI) based on Gardner’s theory among students of fifth grade elementary school in Isfahan city. The study was descriptive and correlative. Sample population consisted of 30 students who were selected using multistage sampling. The measuring instruments used were Gardner’s multiple intelligence questionnaires and Wechsler intelligence scale for children -fourth edition- (Wisc_IV). The data was analyzed using correlation coefficient. The results of this study showed that there are significant relationships between Gardner’s verbal-linguistic intelligence subscales and Wechsler’s visual concepts, between Gardner’s visual-spatial intelligence and Wechsler’s encoding and speed, between Gardner’s interpersonal intelligence and Wechsler’s digit span and visual concepts subscales, and finally between Gardner’s intrapersonal intelligence and Wechsler’s digit span (p<0/05). However, there was no significant relationship between other subscales. It can be concluded that Gardner’s multiple intelligence questionnaires should be used circumspectly as a diagnostic test for measuring intelligence in traditional sense.

Children are different regarding the type of activities. Some of them are hyperactive characterized with unwanted, non-purposeful movements. Diagnosis of this disorder needs appropriate and precise methods.The purpose of this study is to analyze the structure and validity of questionnaires used for the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Research population consisted of teachers of exceptional children and parents of hyperactive children. One hundred people (54 parents and 46 teachers) were selected using multistage and random sampling. Data were collected through questionnaires (exploratory factor analysis).Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the questionnaires used for the diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder consist of 35 items and 5 factors, including memory and attention deficit (9 items), responsibility and organization (9 items), non-purposeful movements (8 items), cooperating with others (5 items), and impulsivity (4 items). The questionnaire has an adequate reliability (Cronbach's alpha for the entire questionnaire = 0.70, first factor = 0.85, second factor = 0.72, third factor = 0.81, fourth factor = 0.68, and fifth factor = 0.65). To determine the validity of the text, Adult Behavior Checklist (Barkley and Murphy, 1998) was used. Correlation coefficient was estimated as 0.295, which is significant at p<0.003. This is indicative of the adequate validity of the questionnaire.This study suggests that the questionnaire used for the diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is effective and has adequate reliability and validity.

According to Kerlinger (1986), factor analysis is a statistical method serving “scientific parsimony principle”. This technique can be used to reduce multiplicity between variables, purify the relationships among variables, and maximize simplification. In fact, this technique determines the dependency among measures and variables and facilitates scientific interpretation. The purpose of the present study is to introduce the application of factor analysis for assigning weight to the variables, exploring the simplest and the most feasible indices with highest weight and significance of evaluation of the sample group, and determining the factor loading for each of the scale items on every one of the explored factors. In the present descriptive study, the data related to the psychological and physiological symptoms of stress among 430 high school teachers of West Azerbaijan Province (105 teachers of physical education and 298 teachers of other fields) were utilized. In the analysis of the data using method of factor analysis, weight was assigned to items and in the next stage, the weight of each item based on the weight of that indicator in the related factor would be used instead of constant weight equal one, in order to come up with final scores of subjects. Results show that there is a significant difference between the two methods in determining the weight of the items by Friedman. Referring to the results, it could be concluded that efficacy of factor analysis in comparing with other ranking methods of indicators was in optimum level.

Although numerous methods have been proposed for detecting biased items, but a few researches have empirically investigated the power and efficiency of these methods. The main goal of this research was to apply IRT-based likelihood ratio test and confirmatory factor analysis in detecting differential item functioning (DIF) in high stakes tests. Monte Carlo simulated methods were used to answer the research questions. Required data were simulated through WINGEN2 in the form of 100 tests with 30 items that were fitted to 2PL model. Distributions of item difficulties and discrimination powers of all the tests were normal. Responses of 1000 examinees were also simulated with normal ability distribution for each test. Estimation methods of marginal maximum likelihood and weighted least squares were used to detect type and magnitudes of DIF. Data analysis in consecutive replications showed that IRT based methods were superior to CFA methods in detecting DIF. This superiority was observed in all DIF conditions (low, moderate and high). After all, differences between two methods were small at 1000 sample sizes. No differences were observed between two methods in detecting different types of DIF. Results of this study confirm the results of Meade and Lautenschlager (2004; 2006), but is in contrast with the results of Flowers et al (2002). Finally, Likelihood Ratio test is recommended if there is any limitation in applying methods of detecting DIF.

The British Picture Vocabulary Scale (BPVS_II) is one of the most applicable and common scales for measuring children’s language abilities. This scale is useful for educational, clinical and research uses.In this research the Persian and localized version of this scale is developed and corresponding standardized, reliability and validity tests are done. 180 subjects were selected randomly from among 5, 7, 9 and 11 years old children. Wechsler intelligence scale was used for measuring concurrent validity of the Persian version of British Picture Vocabulary Scale. The results are indicative of proper reliability, concurrent validity and diagnostic validity of the Persian version of British Picture Vocabulary Scale. Standardization results showed that the score distribution of 100 is at percentile rank of 50%. Examination of concurrent validity using Wechsler’s intelligence scale indicated the correlation 0.48 between verbal intelligence and vocabulary score. Also, examination of diagnostic validity indicated a significant difference between vocabulary scores of 5, 7, 9 and 11 years old children. Cronbach alpha was used for testing reliability. Cronbach alpha coefficient for 168 items of the Persian Version of British Picture Vocabulary Scale was calculated as 0.84. Based on these findings we can conclude that this vocabulary scale has proper psychometric characteristics for being applied by Persian-speaking children and individuals. Moreover, the larger variance seen in distribution of scores in this research in comparison to standardized samples studied in other countries probably indicates more class differences in the society considered in this research.