“Validating psychological constructs: Historical, philosophical, and practical dimensionsopens in new window”
By Kathleen Slaney
Published 2017 by Palgrave Macmillan ($119.00 hardback; e-books also available)
This book explores construct validity theory (CVT), tracing its historical and philosophical roots and how that informs current research. CVT is of particular importance in behavioral science fields, influencing theoretical and applied research regarding the nature of constructs of interest. The book provides applied researchers, academics, and students with a framework for examining CVT, as well as understanding both the utility and limitations. Additional consideration is given to pragmatic approaches in terms of validation practices that fit within the CVT framework.
“Designing Quality Survey Questionsopens in new window”
By Sheila B. Robinson and Kimberly Firth Leonard
Published in June 2018 by SAGE Publications, Inc. ($40 paperback)
In this book, readers learn how to draft survey questions that meet high quality standards and employ careful, precise wording to properly measure their research topics. Common challenges are addresses, including approaches to sensitive demographic questions, respondent fatigue and careless responding, and cross-cultural sensitivity. Considerations are taken for format of the survey (e.g., digital vs. paper & pencil) as well, along with examples throughout. The accompanying digital content serves as an e-textbook, suitable for classroom instruction regarding effective survey design.
“Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies for Engaging Emerging Scholarsopens in new window”
By Raji Swaminathan and Thalia M. Mulvihill
Published September 2018 by Guilford Press ($80.00 hardback, $35.00 paperback; e-books also available)
This instructional text narrates a framework for teaching graduate and upper-level undergraduate students to think critically and qualitatively as they become researchers. Spanning many disciplines, the book includes tools for instructors such as discussion questions, exercises, and activities that can be customized to suit their students. Topics covered include course design, assessment and evaluation, course format, and syllabus creation. The book demonstrates effective methods for preparing and engaging newcomers to the field, and it encompasses the full research process from inquiry to reporting results to various audiences.
“Handbook of Educational Measurement and Psychometrics Using Ropens in new window”
By Christopher D. Desjardins and Okan Bulut
Published April 2018 by CRC Press ($79.95 hardback; e-books also available)
This handbook provides a useful and practical guide for researchers and psychometricians to conduct traditional and modern educational measurement activities with packages in R. Topics covered include familiarity with R in general, generalizability theory, item response theory for both dichotomous and polytomous items, and data visualization. Advanced topics of particular importance to educational settings also include equating, invariance, and DIF. Written by academic experts in educational measurement, the handbook is a comprehensive tool for practical and pedagogical purposes, demonstrating detailed step-by-step analyses.
Guidelines for the “What’s New?” Column
Have you published a new psychological test or testing product; a book on advanced statistics, measurement, or evaluation; an interesting website or other Internet group related to measurement, statistics, or evaluation; or a computer program useful to Div. 5 membership? If so, we would like to include an announcement of about 100 words in the What’s New column. We would also appreciate any suggestions, or feedback, on how this section of the newsletter can better serve the Div. 5 membership. Please take the opportunity to share information with colleagues through your contributions to this column. Please send announcements and/or product literature to Joanna Solomon, The Score’s associate editor.