Continuous Rating Scale Research Articles

Reading comfort in relation to monitor and ambient luminance levels: A study using continuous rating scale and paired comparison methodology

In this work, it is investigated how reading comfort is influenced by monitor and ambient luminance levels, when employing high-luminance monitors. High-luminance monitors can be used to get more light on the eye and elicit non-image-forming effects. However, this might lead to reduced reading comfort. Two psychophysical methods, a continuous rating scale and paired comparison, were employed to investigate reading comfort in relation to the luminance of the monitor and the ambient environment. The results of 18 observers for the continuous rating scale experiment (aged 20 y to 30 y) and 20 observers for the paired comparison experiment (aged 20 y to 37 y) indicate that reading comfort is significantly influenced by both monitor and ambient luminance levels The paired comparison methodology provided more distinctive capabilities and thus offered a deeper insight. In contrast to prior work suggesting a linear relation between monitor luminance and preferred ambient luminance, the current results indicate that the reading comfort level reaches a tipping or saturation point. A monitor luminance level of 260 cd m−2 combined with an ambient luminance level of 68 cd m−2 provided the highest reading comfort. This reading comfort could not be matched when employing a higher monitor luminance level of 700 cd m−2.

Washout-parametric imaging with Sonazoid for enhanced differentiation of focal liver lesions.

The study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of washout-parametric imaging (WOPI) with that of conventional contrast-enhanced ultrasound (cCEUS) in differentiating focal liver lesions (FLLs). A total of 181 FLLs were imaged with contrast-enhanced ultrasound using Sonazoid, and the recordings were captured for 10 minutes in a prospective setting. WOPI was constructed from three images, depicting the arterial phase (peak enhancement), the early portal venous phase (1-minute post-injection), and the vasculo-Kupffer phase (5 or 10 minutes post-injection). The intensity variations in these images were color-coded and superimposed to produce a single image representing the washout timing across the lesions. From the 181 FLLs, 30 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), 30 non-HCC malignancies, and 30 benign lesions were randomly selected for an observer study. Both techniques (cCEUS and WOPI) were evaluated by four off-site readers. They classified each lesion as benign or malignant using a continuous rating scale, with the endpoints representing "definitely benign" and "definitely malignant." The diagnostic performance of cCEUS and WOPI was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with the DeLong test. Interobserver agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The difference in average AUC values between WOPI and cCEUS was 0.0062 (95% confidence interval, -0.0161 to 0.0285), indicating no significant difference between techniques. The interobserver agreement was higher for WOPI (ICC, 0.77) than cCEUS (ICC, 0.67). The diagnostic performance of WOPI is comparable to that of cCEUS in differentiating FLLs, with superior interobserver agreement.

Perception of maxillary incisor inclination and its correlation with dental cephalometric measurements.

To correlate the clinical perception of maxillary incisor inclination from photographs of the smiling face with cephalometric measurements, using conventional incisor axis reference points and crown reference points. Cross-sectional study. Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Lisbon (Portugal). Eight orthodontists. The perception of maxillary incisor inclination of 47 female patients (mean age 23.4 ± 1.5 years) was evaluated by eight orthodontists. The participants' photographs (smiling frontal, smiling three-quarter and smiling profile) were shown to each assessor and a continuous visual analogue rating scale was used to assess the perception of maxillary incisor inclination. Pearson's correlation and linear regression were calculated between each cephalometric measurement and the perception of incisor inclination. Anatomical crown inclination measurements U1ac-FH (r = 0.854; P < 0.01) and U1ac-SN (r = 0.845; P < 0.01) had the highest correlation values with the assessors' perception of maxillary incisor inclination. Conventional incisor axis measurements showed the lowest correlation values (r = 0.668-0.756). Cephalometric measurements of the labial surface of the anatomical crown of the maxillary incisors showed the strongest correlations with the clinical perception of maxillary incisor inclination from photographs. For optimal aesthetics, the inclination of the labial surface of maxillary incisor crown should be evaluated.

Pengaruh Transparansi dan Kualitas Pelayanan Terhadap Loyalitas Muzakki Pada Lembaga Amil Zakat di Yogyakarta Dengan Trust Sebagai Variabel Intervening

This study aims to determine the effect of transparency and service quality on muzakki loyalty at amil zakat institutions in Yogyakarta. This research is a research that uses quantitative methods. The samples in this study were 169 muzakki who paid zakat at amil zakat institutions in the Yogyakarta area. This study uses a questionnaire instrument in the form of a continuous rating scale. The statistical analysis technique used to model the path paradigm is called path analysis. The calculations to analyze the data in this study were carried out with computer aids, namely the SmartPLS program. The results of the study found that transparency has a significant direct effect on muzakki loyalty at amil zakat institutions, service quality has no direct significant effect on muzakki loyalty, trust (trust) has a direct significant effect on muzakki loyalty, transparency has no significant effect on muzakki loyalty through trust ( trust), and service quality has a significant effect on muzakki's loyalty through trust. The magnitude of the effect of transparency and service quality variables on the trust variable is 65.4%, and the remaining 34.6% is influenced by other variables outside this research model. As well as the influence of the transparency variable, the service quality variable and the trust variable on the muzakki loyalty variable of 58.9% while the remaining 41.1% is influenced by other variables outside this research model.

The Influence of Islamic Business Ethics On The Use of OVO: A Unified Theory of Acceptance And Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT 2) Approach

During the pandemic, there was a change in people's behavior in shopping, where online shopping experienced a significant increase, accompanied by an increase in cashless transactions. However, Islamic business ethics are often forgotten by some Muslim consumers and the ethics of making transactions. Therefore, this study aims to determine the influence of Islamic business ethics on the behavior of using OVO in the community in Yogyakarta. This research is quantitative research using questionnaires as a data collection method. Furthermore, angket was developed using a continuous rating scale and distributed online using the form to 275 selected respondents using purposive sample techniques and analyzed using PLS-SEM. This research found that performance expectations, business expectations, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, and price did not affect the interest of the people of Yogyakarta in using OVO. Meanwhile, Islamic business ethics, social influences, and habits have a positive influence on the interest of the people of Yogyakarta in the use of OVO.

The Influence of Islamic Business Ethics On The Use of OVO: A Unified Theory of Acceptance And Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT 2) Approach

During the pandemic, there was a change in people's behavior in shopping, where online shopping experienced a significant increase, accompanied by an increase in cashless transactions. However, Islamic business ethics are often forgotten by some Muslim consumers and the ethics of making transactions. Therefore, this study aims to determine the influence of Islamic business ethics on the behavior of using OVO in the community in Yogyakarta. This research is quantitative research using questionnaires as a data collection method. Furthermore, angket was developed using a continuous rating scale and distributed online using the form to 275 selected respondents using purposive sample techniques and analyzed using PLS-SEM. This research found that performance expectations, business expectations, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, and price did not affect the interest of the people of Yogyakarta in using OVO. Meanwhile, Islamic business ethics, social influences, and habits have a positive influence on the interest of the people of Yogyakarta in the use of OVO.

Associations between driving rein tensions and drivers’ reports of the behaviour and driveability of Standardbred trotters

Effective communication between driver and horse through the reins is essential in harness racing to promote safety and optimise performance. Yet, the magnitudes of rein tension applied to driven horses, particularly Standardbred trotters (ST) are currently poorly understood. This is surprising given the number of reports that speak of mouth lesions after competition and equipment use that give raise to horse welfare concerns. Combining rein tension measurements with behavioural parameters has the potential to characterize “driveability” (as compared to “rideability”, the equivalent industry term for riding horses). Thus, the aims of the current study were: (i) identify how drivers perceive ST’s behavioural reactions in response to rein signals when driven on a racetrack, (ii) investigate whether drivers’ subjective appraisals of horses’ behavioural responses align with measured rein tensions (RT), (iii) relate these appraisals to the horses’ perceived driveability (score 1 = poor, 10 = excellent), and (iv) assess whether drivers differ in their scoring of horses’ driveability. Nine ST (5 geldings, 7.8 mean ± 2.1 SE years; 4 mares, 6.8 ± 0.5) were driven by 11 drivers (7 females; 4 males) all of whom were experienced in driving ST. Nine drivers tested three different horses each, and two drivers drove two of the horses. This resulted in 31 test drives involving several segments, each comprising a series of changes of gait and direction of travel. Rein tension meters were used throughout. After each test, drivers were asked to report on their experience of each horse they had just driven and to estimate RT (continuous rating scale from 0 to 50 kg) while driving that horse. Overall, segment had a significant effect on median RT (P < 0.001), with RT rising significantly in racing trot (average 59 N; Trot Left/Trot Right) than trotting on a circle (23 N; Circle Left/Circle Right) and walking (8 N), and was higher in counter-clockwise than in clockwise direction in racing trot (P = 0.058). Furthermore, there was an alignment between recorded RT and drivers’ estimates of perceived RT (P < 0.001), and driveability scores increased when estimated RT increased. The current study has confirmed that rein tensiometry may have a place in providing an evidence-base for consistent rein use, especially when horses are driven by multiple drivers. Whether or not soft tissue damage after competitive racing is correlated to higher peak RT, caused by the use of harsher equipment, or a combination of both, merits further investigation.

Spontaneous speech intelligibility: early cochlear implanted children versus their normally hearing peers at seven years of age.

Speaking intelligibly is an important achievement in children's language development. How far do congenitally severe-to-profound hearing-impaired children who received a cochlear implant (CI) in the first two years of their life advance on the path to intelligibility in comparison to children with typical hearing (NH)? Spontaneous speech samples of children with CI and children with NH were orthographically transcribed by naïve transcribers. The entropy of the transcriptions was computed to analyze their degree of uniformity. The same samples were also rated on a continuous rating scale by another group of adult listeners. The transcriptions of the NH children's speech were more uniform, i.e., had significantly lower entropy, than those of the CI children, suggesting that the latter group displayed lower intelligibility. This was confirmed by the ratings on the continuous scale. Despite the relatively restricted age ranges, older children reached better intelligibility scores in both groups.

Multi-state modeling of thought-shape fusion using ecological momentary assessment

Body dissatisfaction (BD) and preoccupation with thoughts of food (PTF) are intertwined and are components of thought-shape fusion. Thought-shape fusion describes the process by which PTF lead to beliefs about weight and shape. To study thought-shape fusion in daily life and explore various transitions between BD and PTF, 30 women with binge eating completed ecological momentary assessment for 14 days. BD and PTF were assessed using continuous rating scales at each prompt. Multi-state modeling, which analyzes micro-temporal transitions between discrete states, was used to examine transitions among four states created with BD and PTF ratings. The four states included low BD/low PTF, low BD/high PTF, high BD/low PTF, and high BD/high PTF. Affect and disordered eating were examined as covariates of state transitions. Results showed high BD states were self-perpetrating, such that when in high BD states, transition to low BD states were less likely. Regarding covariates, positive affect buffered against maladaptive transitions whereas negative affect and disordered eating increased risk. Findings highlighted high BD states as influential, and negative affect and disordered eating as risk factors and positive affect as preventive. This study enhances theory of thought-shape fusion and implicates transitions from BD to PTF as possible underlying transitions.

Clinical experience and categorical perception of children's speech

Accurate and detailed records of children's speech are a critical component of competent service delivery in speech-language pathology/speech and language therapy (SLP/SLT). Previous research has shown that during speech-sound acquisition, children gradually learn to produce sounds in adult-like manners. Continuous rating scales are a way to track this gradual learning. To examine whether clinical experience affects the ability and willingness to rate children's speech production using continuous rating scales. An online survey was administered to 81 US-based SLPs/SLTs, binned into more- and less-experienced groups, and 20 non-SLPs/SLTs. The survey included a speech-sound rating task in which participants rated the production of place of articulation in children's productions of word-initial /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /d/, /ɡ/, /t/ and /k/ on a nine-point equally appearing interval scale. We examined the extent to which these were accurate (i.e., the extent to which they matched laboratory measures of production characteristics) and the extent to which the ratings were gradual (i.e., they used the entire rating scales, rather than just the endpoints). There were no consistent differences between non-SLPs/SLTs, less-experienced SLPs/SLTs and more-experienced SLPs/SLTs in a measure of the accuracy of responses. More consistent differences were found in the extent to which listeners used the endpoints of the scale: greater experience was associated with greater use of the endpoint values. More-experienced SLPs/SLTs are less likely to use the entire range of continuous rating scales to rate children's speech accuracy than less-experienced SLPs/SLTs or clinically untrained listeners. Implications for service delivery are discussed. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject Children's productions of individual sounds, like /k/, become gradually more adult-like over the course of development. For a child who has a [t] for /k/ error, this gradual development means that children's productions become progressively less like /t/ and more like /k/ over development. Phonetic transcription does not capture this gradual development. In contrast, studies have shown that continuous ratings of children's speech (such as rating productions on a scale anchored by the text "the 't' sound" at one end and "the 'k' sound" at the other end) can capture this gradual development. What this paper adds to existing knowledge To determine continuous ratings are clinically feasible, we must first determine whether clinical experience affects people's use of continuous rating scales to rate children's speech. We conducted an on-line speech perception experiment in which 81 speech-language pathologists/speech and language therapists (SLPs/SLTs) and 20 non-SLPs/SLTs rated 60 productions by children on continuous rating scales. The 60 stimuli included many sounds that had been independently verified to be intermediate productions (i.e., a target /k/ that was neither completely /k/-like nor completely /t/-like). Non-SLPs/SLTs and less-experienced SLPs/SLTs rated those intermediate sounds with intermediate ratings (i.e., somewhere on the midpoint of a continuous scale). In contrast, more-experienced SLPs/SLTs were more likely to rate those sounds as instances of endpoints (i.e., as either /k/ or /t/). What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This finding suggests that clinical experience is paradoxically associated with a reduced tendency to use the entire range of responses on continuous rating scales. This finding suggests that we must better understand the cause of this reduced tendency, so that clinicians at all levels can use continuous rating scales equally effectively.

The Capacity of Feeling Loved

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Love is an indispensable part of human life, and this study specifically investigated the expression of feeling loved. This study aims to explore the association between couples’ feeling loved and different components of wellbeing. We constructed a continuous rating scale to measure couples’ feeling loved and its contribution toward life satisfaction and positive affect. There were 252 couples participated in this study. To examine the measurement’s consistency, this study compared the continuous rating scale of feeling loved with its Likert scale and rating scale counterpart. This study also investigated the role of feeling loved towards the scores of positive affect and life satisfaction as the components of wellbeing. Actor partner interdependence model and linear regression results showed that feeling loved was positively contributed to life satisfaction and positive affect; however, there was no significant interactive effect within partner. This study suggested feeling loved influenced wellbeing, although other predictors may play more prominent roles in determining wellbeing.&#x0D; Keywords: love, feeling loved, wellbeing&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

The effect of deep convolutional neural networks on radiologists' performance in the detection of hip fractures on digital pelvic radiographs

PurposeThe purpose of our study is to develop deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) for detecting hip fractures using CT and MRI as a gold standard, and to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 7 readers with and without DCNN. MethodsThe study population consisted of 327 patients who underwent pelvic CT or MRI and were diagnosed with proximal femoral fractures. All radiographs were manually checked and annotated by radiologists referring to CT and MRI for selecting ROI. At first, a DCNN with the GoogLeNet model was trained by 302 cases. The remaining 25 cases and 25 control subjects were used for the observer performance study and for the testing of DCNN. Seven readers took part in this study. A continuous rating scale was used to record each observer's confidence level. Subsequently, each observer interpreted with the DCNN outputs and rated them again. The area under the curve (AUC) was used to compare the fracture detection. ResultsThe average AUC of the 7 readers was 0.832. The AUC of DCNN alone was 0.905. The average AUC of the 7 readers with DCNN outputs was 0.876. The AUC of readers with DCNN output were higher than those without(p < 0.05). The AUC of the 2 experienced readers with DCNN output exceeded the AUC of DCNN alone. ConclusionFor detecting the hip fractures on radiographs, DCNN developed using CT and MRI as a gold standard by radiologists improved the diagnostic performance including the experienced readers.

Awareness and perspectives on expansion of latent TB management among public-sector physicians and medical trainees in Delhi, India

More than one in two healthcare workers (HCWs) in developing countries have latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), an asymptomatic condition signifying persistent tubercular infection in absence of disease. Objectiveto evaluate the physician attitude towards LTBI preventive therapy and their perspectives regarding the potential expansion of latent TB management under the RNTCP. Material and methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis among 60 participants of a continuing medical education program during October' 2019 in a medical college in Delhi, India. ResultsWe enrolled a total of 30 medical officers, 15 resident doctors and 15 medical interns, comprising 27 (45%) males and 33 (55%) females. Only 9 (15%) participants were aware of existing RNTCP guidelines for programmatic management of LTBI. The median (IQR) self-rated willingness of the participants in receiving treatment for LTBI after confirmation of diagnosis on a 10 point continuous rating scale was 6 (5.8). The principal reason attributed to the treatment hesitancy were concerns over drug side effects 19 (31.7%), emergence of drug resistance 11 (18.3%) and the likelihood of reinfection 4 (6.7%). Support for expansion of preventive therapy among household TB contacts was varied, with maximum (41.2%) participants wanting it only for the comorbid patients. ConclusionLTBI preventive treatment is associated with considerable side effects and lack of long-term benefits by a majority of Indian physicians despite significant personal health concerns in treating pulmonary TB cases.

Can Pediatricians Assess Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction From Post-exercise Videos?

Objective: Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is a highly prevalent morbidity of childhood asthma and defined by a transient narrowing of the airways during or after physical exercise. An exercise challenge test (ECT) is the reference standard for the diagnosis of EIB. Video evaluation of EIB symptoms could be a practical alternative for the assessment of EIB. We studied the ability of pediatricians to assess EIB from post-exercise videos.Methods: A clinical assessment was performed in 20 asthmatic children (mean age 11.6 years) and EIB was measured with a standardized ECT performed in cold, dry air. EIB was defined as a fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) of ≥10% post-exercise. Children were filmed before and after exercise in frontal position and bare chested. The clinical assessment results and videos were shown to 20 pediatricians (mean experience 14.4 years). Each assessed EIB severity in 5 random children providing 100 assessments, scored on a continuous rating scale (0–10) and in severity classifications (no, mild, moderate, severe) using a scoring list including physical asthma symptoms. Correlations between predicted scores and objective scores were calculated with Spearman's rho and Cohen's Kappa. A generalized linear model was used to assess the relationship between physical symptoms and fall in FEV1.Results: Median fall in FEV1 after exercise was 15.1% (IQR 1.2–65.1). Pediatricians detected EIB with a sensitivity of 78% (95% CI 66–87%) and a specificity of 40% (95% CI 27–55%). The positive predictive value for a pediatricians' diagnosis of EIB was 61% (95% CI 50–72%). The negative predictive value was 60% (95% CI 42–76%). The agreement between predicted EIB severity classifications and the validated classifications based on the ECT's, was fair [Kappa = 0.36 (95% CI 0.23–0.48)]. The correlation between predicted EIB severity scored on a continuous rating scale and fall in FEV1 after exercise was weak (rs = 0.39, p < 0.001). Independent predictive variables for fall in FEV1 were wheezing (−11%), supraclavicular retractions (−8.4%) and a prolonged expiratory phase (−8.8%).Conclusion: The ability of pediatricians to assess EIB from post-exercise videos is fair at best, implicating that standardized ECT's are still vital in the assessment of EIB.

Development and Validation of a Functional Status-Based Pain Assessment Tool

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) often requires hospitalization, but SCD pain may be present prior to admission and persist past discharge, similar to many acute-on-chronic painful conditions. In practice, readiness for discharge during VOC is a judgment and/or negotiation between patients and their caregivers. Subjective pain intensity, rated on a unidimensional continuous or numeric rating scale, communicates neither readiness for discharge, nor patients' multidimensional pain experience. Inpatient multidimensional pain scales that incorporate concepts like physical function may require too much time and/or impose a high, daily respondent burden on uncomfortable SCD respondents. We found no well-established brief daily adult inpatient multidimensional assessment scale for SCD, but found a pediatric daily function SCD scale, as well as scales used in systemic lupus erythematous and fibromyalgia. We therefore developed and validated the functional status-based pain-assessment (FSPA) survey meant to improve evaluation of readiness for discharge during VOC. Methods: FSPA was created using concepts from the above scales, plus input from inpatient management experts familiar with SCD, including physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and bedside nurses. FSPA helps assess the full spectrum of a patient's functional limitations due to pain. FSPA consists of tasks that are recorded using the patient's self-reported ability (5 point Likert scale ranging from "very easy" to "very difficult") to complete activities including sleeping, watching TV, walking around the room, or eating a meal in a chair. FPSA was designed to be on a health literacy grade of one. Patients were asked to complete FSPA daily at approximately the same time of day. Concurrently, they were asked to rate their pain using a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS, 0-10). Surveys were administered on a preselected nursing unit from January 2018 to June of 2019. Means (standard deviations) or frequencies were used to summarize data. Pearson's correlation was used to examine the relationship between the two continuous variables. Believing readiness for discharge to be a single factor, we performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using structural equation modeling for determining the empirical validity of having a one-factor solution for the FSPA tool. We used item response theory analysis to determine the characteristics of each item using graded response model within a 2-parameter framework. All analyses were performed using Stata 14.0. Results: During the study period, 504 assessments from 86 unique patients over 170 distinct admissions were completed. Of the 86 unique patients, 54% were females with mean age of 31.5 (SD8.0) years. The length of stay was 7.1 (SD6.9) days; minimum 0 days, max 38 days. NRS mean was 6.8 ±1.9 and FSPA mean was 27±8.0. Correlation was moderate and highly significant (Pearson's r = -.4342, p &amp;lt;.0001). The CFA indicated that the one-factor structure was a good fit for the data using routine diagnostic statistics (Figure). Using item response theory analysis, we found that the item discrimination varied from 0.56 to 4.1 while difficulty of the items covered broadly the latent variable of the functional status with pain with values ranging from -2.8 to 7.5. Conclusions: Development and validation of FPSA, while not complete, has yielded a brief assessment tool which may be used daily to improve communication between adult SCD VOC patients and their inpatient clinicians. FPSA may aid the judgment and negotiation of readiness for discharge of these patients, in order to prevent unnecessarily short or long hospital lengths of stay as well as improve patient and provider satisfaction. Future validation could compare FSPA to other longer-term pain and functional assessment tools, determine its ability to predict VOC discharge, and determine whether its use changes VOC discharge behavior. Figure Disclosures Smith: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria.

BiCo: a bipolar continuous rating scale for children’s technology evaluation

ABSTRACTOne challenge of child–computer interaction research is surveying variation of children’s attitudes towards novel educational technology, which often results in an opinion ceiling effect. In this article, the authors introduce BiCo – a bipolar continuous rating scale which builds on children’s ability to draw relative comparisons. They elaborate on the development of BiCo and on how they designed it to better survey children’s attitudes. Beyond addressing the opinion ceiling effect, BiCo is suitable for surveying a wide range of concepts and its invertible design enables simulation of inverted items. The authors provide data comparing BiCo with the widely used Smileyometer instrument when used by fourth-graders (around 10 years old), demonstrating that BiCo mitigates the opinion ceiling effect. They discuss BiCo as a new tool for children’s technology evaluation and provide directions for future research.

LITERASI KEUANGAN SYARIAH PENGELOLA KOPERASI PONDOK PESANTREN AN-NAWAWI KEC. GEBANG, KAB PURWOREJO

This research discuses about literacy of sharia finance aimed to observe to what extent the knowledge of the cooperation manager of Islamic Boarding School towards the literacy of sharia finance determined by the demographical factor, the factor that has a relation with the literacy of finance included education, sex and income. However, this research would focus on the relationof demographical factor and literacy of finance sharia in the perspective of education that is at the level of education and the origin of education of an an dividual in mananging the finance. This research used the quantitative research method in which the measurement was implemented using Continuous Rating Scale (CLS) whith the measurement category of literacy of finance divided into three: high, medium, and low. The variabel in this research included: finance literacy (management of personal finance, saving, investment, assurance), education level (SMU/MA below and undergraduate program above), origin of education (general, religiosity). The research results showed that there was no any difference of sharia finance literacy as seen from the educational level and the origin of education of the cooperation manager of Islamic Boarding School An-Nawawi. This was not in line with the hypothses. However if analyzed in each indicator, then in the assurance, there was a significant influence resulting in the significance at &lt; 0,05. Then, there was a significant influence either in educational level and origin of education

Evidence-Based Survey Design: The Use of Continuous Rating Scales in Surveys

Evidence-Based Survey Design: The Use of Continuous Rating Scales in Surveys

PcIRT: An R Package for Polytomous and Continuous Rasch Models

A key task in psychological assessment is the scaling of new psychological tests and questionnaires. Item response theory (IRT) is a well-established framework for this area of research. At present, IRT comprises a great variety of models, but to date, relatively little attention has been paid to the scaling of nominal and continuous data. The R package pcIRT provides functions for estimating IRT models for polytomous (nominal) and continuous data - the multidimensional polytomous Rasch model (Rasch 1961) and the continuous rating scale model (Muller 1987). Both models are extensions of the dichotomous logistic Rasch model (Rasch 1980) and retain its key feature of the separability of structural and nuisance parameters. The multidimensional polytomous Rasch model is suitable for nominal data under the assumption of a multidimensional space for the response categories, and the continuous rating scale model is a direct extension of the rating scale model developed by Andrich (1978) for continuous data.

Bias in the perception of phonetic detail in children’s speech: A comparison of categorical and continuous rating scales

ABSTRACTPrevious research has shown that continuous rating scales can be used to assess phonetic detail in children’s productions, and could potentially be used to detect covert contrasts. Two experiments examined whether continuous rating scales have the additional benefit of being less susceptible to task-related biasing than categorical phonetic transcriptions. In both experiments, judgements of children’s productions of /s/ and /θ/ were interleaved with two types of rating tasks designed to induce bias: continuous judgements of a parameter whose variation is itself relatively more continuous (gender typicality of their speech) in one biasing condition, and categorical judgements of a parameter that is relatively less continuous (the vowel they produced) in the other biasing condition. One experiment elicited continuous judgements of /s/ and /θ/ productions, while the other elicited categorical judgements. The results of Experiment 1 showed that the influence of acoustic characteristics on continuous judgements of /s/ and /θ/ was stable across biasing conditions. In contrast, the results of Experiment 2 showed that the influence of acoustic characteristics on categorical judgements of /s/ and /θ/differed systematically across biasing conditions. These results suggest that continuous judgements are psychometrically superior to categorical judgements, as they are more resistant to task-related bias.