Assessment, Statistics, and Research

  A z -score tells you the distance of the score from the arithmetic mean of a set of scores that are normally distributed. The z -score represents standard deviation units thus, a z -score of 1 means it is one standard deviation above the mean of the set of scores. A z -score of minus one (-1) means the score is one standard deviation below the mean of the set of scores. The z -scores are often plotted along the x -axis of  a normal distribution, which is sometimes called the bell curve. Use lower case italics when reporting z -scores in APA style. The upper case Z is a different score. You can calculate a  z -score by subtracting a raw score from the mean and dividing by the standard deviation of the set of scores. Example: A raw score on a test = 60. If the mean = 50 and the standard deviation = 10 then (60-50) = 10 and 10 divided by 10 = 1.0. The z score is 1.0, it is one standard deviation above the mean. Most z - scores fall between -3.0 and +3.0 but it is possible to have scor

  Graphic from  Pewresearch 2021 Pew Researchers have a great deal of experience in asking people questions. Formulating a good question for a survey is an important place to begin. However, another lesson from Pew is the additional data they gather. I noticed a large graphic illustrating how people in different groups answered one question. When conducting survey research it is critical to consider what we need to know about the people responding to a question or item to understand the meaning of their response. Consider Pew's survey item with two choices: "most things in society...      Can be pretty clearly divided into good and evil      Are too complicated to be divided into good and evil The graphic shows how different groups responded and allows for comparisons on the two ways to respond. Later, in the article, they compare political affiliations, which in the US means Republican and Democrat. This is worth studying as well. The article is worth reading to learn more ab

  S cale name: Belief in Good Luck (BIGL) Scale overview: The scale presents 12-items, which are rated based on degree of agreement. The authors wanted to reliably assess irrational beliefs about luck and examine the beliefs in relationship to expectations of success. Early psychometric properties support the scale as a useful assessment of luck. Authors: Peter R. Darke and Jonathan L. Freedman   Response Type: 4-point agree-disagree scale Subscales: None Sample items b) Some people are consistently lucky, and others are unlucky. o) Luck is nothing more than random chance. (reverse scored) Reliability: Factor analysis yielded one factor. Items were selected from the original list based on factor loadings. Alpha   values were .85 in studies 1 and 3; .78 in study 2. Validity: The article includes correlation values with other measures. Total BIGL score was significantly positively correlated with the chance subscale of the Locus of Control scale. Availability: