This paper reports the use of several quantitative analytic methods, including Rasch analysis, to re-examine teacher responses to questionnaire items probing opinions related to the compulsory numeracy tests conducted in Years 3, 5, and 7 in Queensland, Australia. Nisbet and Grimbeek (2004) previously reported an interpretable and statistically acceptable 6-factor exploratory factor solution. T...

This paper conceptualizes and develops valid measurements of the key dimensions of information systems development project (ISDP) complexity. A conceptual framework is proposed to define four components of ISDP complexity: structural organizational complexity, structural IT complexity, dynamic organizational complexity, and dynamic IT complexity. Measures of ISDP complexity are generated based ...

The purpose of this study was to construct and validate a "Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument" (PPLI) for physical education teachers. Based on literature review and focus group interviews, an 18-item instrument was developed for the initial tests. This self-report measure, using a 5-point Likert scale, formed the PPLI and was administered to 336 physical education teachers in Hong Kong. Th...

In the present study 14 bacterial strains were isolated from root nodule of Crotolaria junceae L. from 4 different sites of Assam. The isolates were investigated for their morphological characteristics. Three different confirmatory tests were performed with the isolates. The isolates were also investigated for their biochemical characteristics and compared with biochemical characteristics of re...

Discrepant analysis is a widely used technique for estimating the performance parameters of a laboratory test. In discrepant analysis, each specimen is initially tested with the candidate test and a comparison method, and when the results of the two tests disagree, a confirmatory test is used to resolve the discrepancy. Discrepant analysis usually produces biased estimates. This report quantifi...

This article uses conversation analysis to develop a typology of questions that physicians use to solicit patients' problems and then tests question-format effects on patients' subsequent problem presentations. Data are videotapes of 302 primary-, acute-, and outpatient-care visits involving 77 physicians in 41 urban and rural clinics, as well as pre- and post-visit questionnaires. The most fre...

OBJECTIVE The Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS) assess symptoms specific to adults that are frequently used and have been translated into German. The current study tests the factor structure of the CAARS in a large sample of German adults with ADHD and compares the means of the CAARS subscales with those of healthy German controls. METHOD CAARS were completed by 466 participants with A...

PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to validate the use of the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire with medical students. METHODS A sample of 274 medical students in their fourth and fifth years of study (80% response rate) completed the WHOQOL-BREF instrument. The four-domain factor structure of the questionnaire was teste...

BACKGROUND This study tests the validity and the invariance of ERI questionnaire (ERIQ) data from health professionals in six different Latin-American countries. METHODS One thousand two hundred ninety-two (1292) participants who worked in hospitals in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela completed the ERI and GHQ questionnaires. Partial correlations were carried out as well...

Coryneform bacteria of the genus Brevibacterium occur on the normal skin surface, but reports of human infection with this genus are lacking. A number of cultures of coryneform bacteria sent to the National Collection of Type Cultures for identification have been identified as Brevibacterium spp on the basis of their cell wall composition and ability to produce methane-thiol from L-methionine. ...