Measure Of Congruence Research Articles

EXCESS HOMOPLASY RATIOS

Abstract Archie (1990) prefers his “homoplasy excess ratio” HER to Farris' (1989)1 ensemble retention index R. HER, he writes, lacks R's defects: R's minimum is not zero, and varies with number of terminals or characters.HER has those defects. Archie has misunderstood the permutation method on which HER rests, and mistaken the properties of R as well. After explaining those points, I describe other permutation‐based indices and briefly consider their utility. These provide relative measures of congruence among the characters of the data; one corresponds to a significance test.

Vocational, avocational, and skill utilization congruences and their relationship with well-being in two cultures

The present study examines the interrelationship among three aspects of congruence (vocational, avocational, and skill utilization) and their relationship to several well-being measures (occupational satisfaction, job satisfaction, work satisfaction, anxiety, burnout, somatic complaints, and self-esteem). The data allow comparison of the above relationships between a Jewish sample of 74 female teachers and an Arab Bedouin sample of 117 teachers (51 males and 66 females) in Israel. Findings indicate that (1) correlations among the congruence measures are between − .06 and .25; (2) all correlations between each of the congruence aspects and each of the well-being measures are in the expected direction; and (3) the vocational and skill utilization congruence aspects show an additive effect on all well-being measures. Several implications are discussed.

An Examination of Mann's Model of Time-Limited Individual Psychotherapy

The present study attempted a sensitive test of the dynamic sequence proposed by Mann for time-limited individual psychotherapy (TLP). Session evaluation ratings were collected from both patient and therapist. Indices were constructed that reflected the consistency of patient ratings, the consistency of therapist ratings, and the congruence between patient and therapist ratings, in each third of TLP. Measures of symptoms and social functioning were employed to differentiate cases of "good" versus "poor" treatment outcome. Therapists' adherence to the TLP technique was assessed by categorizing all interventions in each session. Fourteen patients were treated according to the TLP model. Measures of therapist behaviour indicated that treatments had been conducted in general accordance with Mann's technical recommendations. Measures of consistency and congruence failed to support the proposed TLP dynamic sequence. Analyses of mean evaluation ratings indicated a trend towards more positive evaluations as therapy progressed; "good" outcome cases were significantly more likely to evidence this pattern. Results are discussed in terms of interplay between inductive hypothesis building and empirical verification in the development of theories of psychotherapy.

Discrete relaxation

In this paper we are concerned with the approach to discrete relaxation that regards the global consistent labelling of objects as maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) estimation. We commence by reviewing existing work and draw attention to some of the technical difficulties that limit the applicability of the technique. The difficulties originate from the distinct requirements that the final labelling is both a global optimum and globally consistent. We demonstrate how it is possible to achieve a globally consistent MAP estimate by iterative label replacement without sacrificing the representational capacity of the label process. The computational realisation of the proposed approach admits a conceptual ingredient hitherto not present in discrete relaxation schemes, namely, that of a label error process. This process naturally leads to a measure of congruency between initial inconsistent labellings and physically occurring dictionary items. The use of congruency provides a means of resolving labelling ambiguities and inconsistencies which would otherwise remain unresolved if the conventional models of the label process were employed. The performance of the technique is demonstrated for the highly structured problem of edge labelling.

Person-environment fit research: Problems and prospects

The present discussion of Holland's concept of congruence is intended to complement the discussion in the special issue on the topic ( Journal of Vocational Behavior, 31, 1987). The first part is devoted to problems associated with the definition and measurement of congruence. The second part focuses on the role of congruence as a predictor of vocational behavior.

Performance congruence and value congruence impact on sales force annual sales

The separate and joint impact of performance congruence (similarity between salespeople and their sales managers) and value congruence on annual sales are investigated in a field study. Two hundred thirty-nine salespeople and their sales managers from several industries participated in the study. A significant association was found for separate and joint associations between performance congruence and value congruence and annual sales. More specifically, the more similar salespeople and their sales managers are regarding performance congruence measures, “identifying new prospects” and “setting up an initial appointment” and personal values, “warm relationships with others,” and “sense of belonging,” the higher annual sales.

INCONGRUENCE BETWEEN GAMETOPHYTIC AND SPOROPHYTIC CLASSIFICATIONS IN MOSSES

SummaryBryophyte systematists have long believed that because both the gametophytic and sporophytic generations are well developed and diverse, the classification of mosses presents difficulties not found in other plants. Often classifications based on the sporophyte are quite different from those based on the gametophyte. Following methods developed by Rohlf, the product–moment correlation between two matrices of similarity values was used as a numerical measure of congruence, and a randomization test was applied to assess its significance. The degree of incongruence between phenetic similarity matrices based independently on gametophytic and sporophytic characters was measured for three published data sets. The similarity matrix correlation coefficients range from 0.07 to 0.21, all indicating a high degree of incongruence. This incongruence is as great as or greater than that reported for classifications based on different life stages or body parts in other groups of plants and animals. For two of the three data sets studied, classifications based independently on gametophytic and sporophytic characters are significantly less congruent than classifications based on randomized subsets of the characters. The differences in phenetic relationships as expressed by the gametophytic and sporophytic generations thus appear to be real rather than being simply an artifact of splitting a homogeneous set of characters into two subsets.

Meta-analysis of the relationship between congruence and well-being measures

This paper summarizes the results of a meta-analysis on findings of 41 different studies, yielding 77 correlation coefficients between measures of personality-environment congruence and well-being. Results show congruence-achievement and congruence-stability correlations of .06 and .15, respectively, with negligible residual variance. The mean congruence-satisfaction correlation was .21, and after two further breakdowns—by environmental reference and congruence measuring method—mean congruence-satisfaction correlations exceeding .35 were found, with almost all total nonrandom variance among findings of different congruence studies explained.

Can wives perceive the source of their husbands' occupational stress?

The congruence between male prison officers' (POs) perceptions of job‐related stress and wives' perceptions of their husbands' stress was examined. A Sources of Stress Questionnaire (SSQ) and the GHQ were administered to a random sample of POs. Their wives were asked to identify the sources of stress in their husbands' job, and to complete the GHQ. The results of two measures of congruence are reported. Firstly, separate factor analyses of the SSQ for the POs and their wives revealed similar factor structures and, secondly, the pattern and magnitude of the stress reported by the couples varied within factors. Wives reported greater stress originating from the violent nature of their husbands' job, and less stress originating from living in a prison village than their husbands. It is suggested that the wives' accurate perceptions arise as the result of subjective assessments, communication of which is facilitated by particular features of the work and work environment.

A Strategic Approach to Evaluating Manufacturing Performance

Traditionally, manufacturing performance in a firm has been evaluated with static input-output measures such as factor efficiency. However, other measures relating to the corporate competitive stance and the corresponding variables in the manufacturing task are important in determining success. We suggest a set of potential profiles for different types of corporate mission and manufacturing tasks. These profiles are validated with survey data, and measures of both strategic focus and congruence are derived and evaluated.

Description of alternative measures of the concepts of vocational interest: Crystallization, congruence, and coherence

Several concepts which are related to score profiles common in career counseling are discussed. In the first part, problems associated with the definition and the measurement of concepts related to a single profile are examined: J. L. Holland's (1973, Making vocational choices, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall) concept of consistency is compared to the proposed notion of crystallization of interests which is based on the similarity among the salient scales of the profile. In the second part, problems associated with the definition and the measurement of concepts related to the similarity between two (or more) profiles are examined and the disadvantages of existing measures are discussed. An alternative measure, based on the similarity between the profiles, is proposed as a measure of congruence (between different types of profiles) and of coherence (which refers to the similarity between the same type of profiles). The proposed measures are based on the salient scales of the profile(s) and take into account the structure of interests and the structure of occupations. The rationale and characteristics of the measures are described, and their usefulness is demonstrated. Finally, the implications for vocational theory and research are discussed.

Randomization tests to determine significance levels for microanalytic congruences between self-efficacy and behavior

Self-efficacy research has employed a “microanalytic congruence” measure to assess relationships between self-judged efficacy and behavior. This measure assesses the percentage of tasks for which self-efficacy and behavior are congruent. Though obtained congruence valued have often been quite large, they have been reported without significance levels indicating the probability of obtaining these values by chance. This is especially problematic in that the congruence expected by chance may be considerably greater than 50%. The present paper critically analyzes previous approaches to estimating chance congruence levels. A randomization test is presented for obtaining significance levels for the microanalytic congruence measure, irrespective of the form of the self-efficacy scales. This method, applied to data reported in the literature, shows the obtained congruences to be highly significant.

Morphometric and Allozymic Congruence: Evolution in the Prawn Macrobrachium Rosenbergii (Decapoda: Palaemonidae)

Morphometric and allozymic data were collected for eight populations of a palaemonid prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man), throughout Asia, north Australia, and parts of the western Pacific. For each data set, Fitch-Margoliash networks were constructed to estimate the patristric and cladistic relationships among these populations. Two measures of taxonomic congruence were calculated for the networks with varying results which are traced to inherent differences in the methods. Both measures indicated that the networks agreed in the divergence of the species into eastern and western subspecific groups along Wallace's Line, a zoogeographic discontinuity in Asia. These networks were correlated with paleogeologic and paleoclimatic theory to infer the species' expansion and evolution. The same paleotectonic factors resulting in the formation of Wallace's Line are thought to have caused the species' subspecific divergence. Climatic differences may promote selective forces which at different levels maintain Wallace's Line and the prawn's subspecific divergence.

Fuse: A FORTRAN V program for agglomerative fusion for minicomputers

Abstract FUSE is a program written in FORTRAN 77 for the agglomerative fusion or cluster analysis of 500 or more individuals on minicomputers. The use of direct-access I/O and a sorted queue enables reasonable execution times to be obtained with minimal memory requirements. Eight of the most popular agglomerative fusion strategies are available through the use of the Flexible Sorting formula; additional methods may be incorporated. Carbonate data of Imbrie and Purdie are used to test the merits of the technique generally, as well as provide discussion for a comparison of different strategies available. A simple space-distortion coefficient (SDC) is introduced to enable quantitative measurement of what previously has been an uncertain effect of application of the various clustering strategies. Measures of internal congruence, here termed fidelity measures, appear useful for comparing various strategies but fail as absolute measures of the value of a classification.

Marital communication, adjustmemt and perceptual differences between “happy” and “counseling” couples

Abstract Sixteen significantly different marital communication practices were identified which distinguished happily married individuals from those undergoing counseling. These results provide support for and are an extension of Navran's seminal work on marital communication. At least nine items from Navran's adapted version of the Primary Communication Inventory (PCI) appear to be reliable and valid measures in identifying differences between “happy” and “counseling” married couples' communications over two time periods and across different selected samples. As predicted, comparisons between 23 couples happily married and 23 couples undergoing counseling revealed that happy individuals had significantly more congruency between their self-perceptions and their spouse's perceptions of their communication practices. Also, happy couples' marital adjustment scores were more congruent than the counseling couples'. Analyses comparing the results of this study and the initial study lead to suggestions for designing the PCI to be more effective as a perceptual congruency measure.

Person-environment congruence as a predictor of adolescent health and behavioral problems.

Most research on health and behavioral outcomes of stressors has focused on adults. One stressor identified in this literature is lack of "fit," or congruence, between individual needs and environmental opportunities. This study examines relations between person-environment congruence in three settings (home, school, and peer group) and several indices of health and behavioral disorder among adolescents. We also examine whether person-environment congruence contributes to the prediction of health and behavioral disorder once the effects of stressful life events have been taken into account. Using self-report data from 531 high school students, we find (a) person-environment congruence has relatively little impact on youngsters' health and well-being; and (b) although the contribution of congruence is small it is independent of the contribution of life events. Problems in the measurement of congruence are noted.

Measures of Accuracy and Congruence in the Performance Evaluation of CPA Personnel: Replication and Extensions

A major problem in all organizations is to motivate subordinates properly to engage in actions desired by superiors. For years, performance evaluation of subordinates has been a major procedure followed in organizations to achieve motivation. While the need for performance evaluation is well recognized, the process is not without problems. Numerous cases in which performance evaluation has contributed to poor performance have been documented (e.g., Hopwood [1973], Ridgway [1956]). This should not be too surprising, since we do not completely understand the interaction between performance evaluation and human behavior. Indeed, this lack of knowledge provides the motivation for the extensive literature in psychology which examines performance evaluation issues.1 Recently, this issue has been studied within CPA firms by Jiambalvo [1979] and Maher, Ramanathan, and Peterson [1979]. In the latter study it was found that accuracy in assessing the importance of evaluation criteria and congruence between the perceived and desired importance of evaluation criteria are related to the overall performance of CPA firm employees. The purpose of this paper is to provide further evidence on the importance of accuracy and congruence in CPA firms. Almost every behavioral accounting study ends with the caveat that

Determinants of person-environment congruence in institutionalized elderly men and women.

This study was designed to obtain information potentially of value in understanding an modifying the impact of the social environment of the perceived quality of like among institutionalized aged persons. It was hypothesized that Person-Environment (P-E) congruence, as assessed by the Environmental Perception, Preference and Importance Scale (EPPIS), would be related to (1) sex integration/segregation makeup of the health related facility (HRF) living units, and (2) quantity of social interaction between staff and residents. Analysis of sex by unit sex-type interaction for 60 residents' Person-Environment (P-E) congruence scores revealed that elderly females on sex-integrated units reported a higher level of P-E congruence than those residing on female-only units; males on sex-integrated units, in contrast, reported a poorer level of P-E congruence than males on sex -segregated units. Furthermore, behavioral observations of staff-resident verbal interactions confirmed the hypothesis that residents living on units with high staff-resident interaction perceived the environments more congruent with their preferences than residents on units low in verbal interaction. The observed relationships between the P-E congruence measure, resident-staff interaction, and unit sex-type were taken as further support for the relevance and value of the EPPIS measure as a tool for assessing and improving the institutional milieu.

ASSESSING ATTITUDINAL CONGRUENCE: A CASE FOR ABSOLUTE (AS WELL AS RELATIVE) INDICES

Looking through most popular textbooks on research methods and statistics used in the behavioral sciences, one will be unable to find any presentation focused on the measurement of attitude congruence. Yet, the notion of agreement or disagreement between various matched pairs has been widely researched in many areas. Perhaps it has just been assumed that assessing this kind of agreement or congruence is merely an application of well-known methods such as correlational analysis and comparison of means. An example of this situation is found in a recent review of parent-child attitude studies (Sirotnik, 1981) in which three distinct analytic methods seemed to be in use equally often for assessing attitudinal congruence: (a) Pearson product-moment correlation, (b) paired-comparison of means, and (c) comparison of independent group means. Such applications could easily lead to non-convergent interpretations. Moreover, method b is not necessarily sensitive to congruence since the algebraic sign of differences confounds the comparison, and method c is clearly inappropriate given the dependent nature of paired data. It will be argued here that questions of attitude congruence can be of at least two distinct types, absolute and/or relative. These types have attendant differences in analytic models and, therefore, also have different implications for data analysis. The term absolute congruence applies to the simple observed proportion of agreement between respondent pairs. The term relative congruence applies to the family of agreement indices which, although functions of the absolute index, are formulated relative to chance expectations. It should be noted that differentiating between these indices is a general problem pertaining to any form of cross classification for the purpose of measuring agreement. For example, the issue raised herein has recently been confronted and similarly resolved by Kane and Brennan (1980) in the context of criterion-referenced testing and indexing the reliability of mastery-nonmastery decisions.

Marital status and psychological well-being: An individual-environment congruence perspective

The role of the individual's relationship to his environment has achieved central prominence in social science theory, but has not yet been adequately represented and measured through numerical methods. A variety of multivariate regression techniques have been proposed to incorporate individual and environmental level measures in a single regression equation. This article presents a special case of a contextual analysis model in which two sets of predictor variables are statistically treated to create a third set of predictor variables called congruence measures. Each of the three sets of predictor variables are then run separately in multiple regression equations against a fourth set of individual level outcome variables to determine the relative gain in predictive power of the congruence measures over the individual and environmental level variables when they are run alone. Martital status variables are used to illustrate and examine the model.