Construction delay is unavoidable in developing countries including Malaysia. It is defined as time overrun or extension of time for completion of a project. The purpose of the study is to determine the causes of delay in Malaysian construction industries based on previous worldwide research. The field survey conducted includes the experienced developers, consultants and contractors in Malaysia...

The validation of ability scales describing multidimensional skills is always challenging, but not impossible. This study applies a multistage, criterion‐referenced approach that uses a framework of aligned texts and reading tasks to explore the validity of the ACTFL and related reading proficiency guidelines. Rasch measurement and statistical analyses of data generated in three separate langua...

A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the usefulness of incorporating collateral information in the Mixed Rasch model. The results show that the standard errors as well as latent class membership assignment can benefit substantially from incorporating external variables that associate with the latent class variable. Especially when the difference in probability structure between the laten...

We conducted a study of 400 preschool children to determine whether spatial and numerical skills rely on common processes. Children completed a battery of mathematical tasks as part of an ongoing preschool formative assessment development project. We created theoretically meaningful skills from these tasks and carried out item response theoretic analyses on each skill. We extracted Rasch scores...

This paper shows the impact of differential discrimination on the results of vertical equating when the Rasch model is applied. It is shown that where there is differential discrimination, relevant items contribute information, for the purpose of vertical equating, that contains systematic error. The impact of differential item discrimination on vertical equating is examined from a theoretical ...

Although there are numerous possibilities to save energy, conservation initiatives often do not tailor their content to the consumer. By considering energy conservation as a one-dimensional construct, where different behaviors have different execution difficulties, we have set out a Rasch-based energy recommender system that provides tailored conservation advice to its users. Through an online ...

Introduction This study used the Rasch model to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Substance Problem Scale (SPS) of the "Global Appraisal of Individual Needs - Initial" for use in Brazil. The SPS measures alcohol and drug problem severity within a DSM-IV-TR framework. The goal of the Rasch analysis was to assess scale dimensionality, item severity, and differe...

BACKGROUND Fatigue is a common symptom in post-polio syndrome (PPS) and can have a substantial impact on patients. There is a need for validated questionnaires to assess fatigue in PPS for use in clinical practice and research. The aim with this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Swedish version of Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) in patients with PPS using the R...

The purpose of this study is to determine whether learners are willing to transfer learning in this mobile learning environment via SMS. The reason for this is to measure the effectiveness of the new method used in learning and education especially in distance education field. For this reason, students’ responses are gathered which looked at three factors namely learner characteristic, learning...