Assessment, Statistics, and Research

AI image of a person taking a Polygraph test   Researchers have long investigated the validity and reliability of polygraph tests as tools for detecting deception. These tests work by measuring physiological indicators—such as blood pressure, respiration, and skin conductivity—that are thought to correlate with the emotional arousal often associated with lying. However, a substantial body of research has revealed that these responses are not uniquely linked to deception; they can also be triggered by stress, anxiety, or other emotional states not related to dishonesty (National Research Council, 2003). In controlled laboratory settings, polygraph tests have sometimes demonstrated moderate levels of accuracy, suggesting that under ideal circumstances they might differentiate between truth-telling and lying to some degree better than chance. Nonetheless, when these tests are applied in real-world or forensic settings, their accuracy tends to diminish markedly. Factors such as th...

In psychological statistics, the mode refers to the value that appears most frequently in a data set. It's a measure of central tendency, like the mean and median, but it highlights the most common value(s) instead. Examples: Suppose you have a data set representing the number of hours students study per week: 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 3, 2. In this case, the mode is 3 because it appears more frequently than any other value. Let's say you're analyzing survey responses on a Likert scale where participants rate their satisfaction from 1 to 5: 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5. Here, the mode is 4, as it is the most common response. Mode, Median, and Mean The mode, median, and mean are all measures of central tendency, but each one provides different insights into a data set: Mode : The value that appears most frequently in a data set. It highlights the most common observation. For example, in the data set 2 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 4 , 5      the mode is 4. Median : The middle value in a data set when ...

Prayers 2025 Geoffrey W Sutton & Artspace.ai Assessment name: Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale- 5-Item (RSS-5) Scale overview: The five-item version of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS-5) is a reliable measure of clinically relevant struggles (divine, interpersonal, moral, doubt, ultimate meaning struggles) in mental health care settings. Authors : Sarah G. Salcone, Julie J. Exline, Kenneth I. Pargament, Joseph M. Currier, Ryon C. McDermott, Don E. Davis, Amanda M. Raines, Yejin Lee Cite this post Sutton, G.W. (2025). Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale- 5-Item (RSS-5). Assessment, Statistics, and Research .  https://statistics.suttong.com/2025/03/religious-and-spiritual-struggles-scale.html Response Type: Participants rated each item on a scale of occurrence from 1 = Not at all to 5 = A great deal.  Scale items: There are five items–one from each of the five subscales of the long RSS scale.    Example Questioned whether li...