Outlier Detection in Test and Questionnaire Data

Classical methods for detecting outliers deal with continuous variables. These methods are not readily applicable to categorical data, such as incorrect/correct scores (0/1) and ordered rating scale scores (e.g., 0, …, 4) typical of multi-item tests and questionnaires. This study proposes two definitions of outlier scores suited for categorical data. One definition combines information on outliers from scores on all the items in the test, and the other definition combines information from all pairs of item scores. For a particular item-score vector, an outlier score expresses the degree to which the item-score vector is unusual. For ten real-data sets, the distribution of each of the two outlier scores is inspected by means of Tukey's fences and the extreme studentized deviate procedure. It is investigated whether the outliers that are identified are influential with respect to the statistical analysis performed on these data. Recommendations are given for outlier identification and accommodation in test and questionnaire data.     

Degrading situations and antisocial behaviour: an experimental approach to delinquency

What are the social psychological processes likely to lead individuals to commit antisocial behaviour? Two experiments are presented showing that students experiencing a publicly degrading situation (a failure on a fictitious test) agreed more often than non-degraded students to participate in a theft to the detriment of a fellow student or even to the detriment of a teacher. We were able to exclude an interpretation in terms of imitation or revenge and suggest that a publicly degrading situation places subjects in a kind of social dependency state which is expressed by a vulnerability to influence. These results are discussed with due regard to the criminological and social psychological literature.     

New Concepts for a New Age: Information Service Organizations and Mental Information Work

Abstract

To describe and conceptualize new forms of work and organization a questionnaire survey in service organizations (n = 845), and a telephone survey among workers (n = 1168) were held. New concepts are introduced to identify the types of work and organization found, i.e. “Information Service Organization” (ISO) and “Mental Information Work” (MIW). ISOs are characterized by activities such as collecting, storing, and processing data; advising people; and informing people. They also make a lot of use of IT (computers, programs) and electronic network connections. Most ISOs appear to be traditional in terms of working hours and places of work. MIW is a form of knowledge work characterized by mental manipulations of information; IT is often used. Flexi-time is relatively frequent in MIW, but most people work on a fixed place of work.     

Editorial

The aim was to investigate organizational impact on working conditions and to explore the associations between sector, different types of organizational change, and working conditions. A strategic selection was made of representative staff members from 72 work sites. Data pertaining to organizational factors were collected from managers, and to working conditions from employees. Multilevel analyses were performed, with 10 aspects of self-reported and expert assessed psychosocial and ergonomic/physical working conditions as the dependent variables, and patterns of organizational change and sector as the explanatory variables. The results showed that the variance in working conditions was significantly attributed to organizational level (16?–?65% of the variance), and that both the pattern of change and the sector were important. Organizations that had not undergone change provided the best work conditions. The “standardizing” and “market-adjusting” patterns of change had deleterious effects, while the “lean” and “centralizing” patterns led to dual outcomes. Organizational change was perceived as having more negative consequences in the public sector than in the private sector. The results indicate that organizational change contributes to increased differentiation of working conditions, as different types of changes congregate in specific areas of the labour market and affect groups of employees differently.     

Job characteristics and off-job activities as predictors of need for recovery, well-being, and fatigue

Two empirical studies examined need for recovery (i.e., a person's desire to be temporarily relieved from demands in order to restore his or her resources) as a mediator in the relationship between poor job characteristics (high job demands, low job control) and high off-job demands, on the one hand, and fatigue and poor individual well-being, on the other hand. Multilevel data from a daily survey study in the health service sector (Study 1) showed that high job demands, low job control, and unfavorable off-job activities predicted a high need for recovery. Need for recovery in turn was negatively related to individual well-being. A large-scale survey with a representative sample of the Dutch working population (Study 2) confirmed these findings for fatigue. In both studies, need for recovery mediated the effects of job characteristics and off-job activities on fatigue and poor well-being, respectively.     

Knowledge of the Unknown Child: A Systematic Review of the Elements of the Best Interests of the Child Assessment for Recently Arrived Refugee Children

Decision-making regarding an asylum request of a minor requires decision-makers to determine the best interests of the child when the minor is relatively unknown. This article presents a systematic review of the existing knowledge of the situation of recently arrived refugee children in the host country. This research is based on the General Comment No. 14 of UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It shows the importance of knowing the type and number of stressful life events a refugee child has experienced before arrival, as well as the duration and severity of these events. The most common mental health problems children face upon arrival in the host country are PTSD, depression and various anxiety disorders. The results identify the relevant elements of the best interests of the child assessment, including implications for procedural safeguards, which should promote a child rights-based decision in the asylum procedure.     

Standard errors of two-level scalability coefficients

For the construction of tests and questionnaires that require multiple raters (e.g., a child behaviour checklist completed by both parents) a novel ordinal scaling technique is currently being further developed, called two-level Mokken scale analysis. The technique uses within-rater and between-rater coefficients to assess the scalability of the test. These coefficients are generalizations of Mokken's scalability coefficients. In this paper we derived standard errors for the two-level coefficients and for their ratios. The coefficients, the estimates, the estimated standard errors and the software implementation are discussed and illustrated using a real-data example, and a small-scale simulation study demonstrates the accuracy of the estimates.     

Robust Mokken Scale Analysis by Means of the Forward Search Algorithm for Outlier Detection

Exploratory Mokken scale analysis (MSA) is a popular method for identifying scales from larger sets of items. As with any statistical method, in MSA the presence of outliers in the data may result in biased results and wrong conclusions. The forward search algorithm is a robust diagnostic method for outlier detection, which we adapt here to identify outliers in MSA. This adaptation involves choices with respect to the algorithm's objective function, selection of items from samples without outliers, and scalability criteria to be used in the forward search algorithm. The application of the adapted forward search algorithm for MSA is demonstrated using real data. Recommendations are given for its use in practical scale analysis.