Social status of industries.

A sample of students (68 male, 52 female) ranked a list of 29 industries in order of social status, a second sample ranked the status of an executive in each industry, a third sample ranked the status of a laborer in each. Men and women agreed markedly in their status rankings (rho of .9) regardless of method, and the influence of occupational level stereotypes was negligible (rho of .8-.9 between rankings for pairs of stereotypes). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Institutional research productivity in industrial/organizational psychology.

Updated the report of W. M. Cox and V. Catt (see record 1978-21651-001) by determining the 40 top contributing institutions to the Journal of Applied Psychology, 1976–1982, and assessed the generalizability of productivity rankings based solely on contributions to this journal. A number of industrial and organizational psychologists were asked to indicate all the journals in which psychologists in the field were likely to publish. Five journals suggested by these nominators were used for comparison in the review. A list of the 40 most productive graduate programs based on these 5 journals is included. Results show the inadequacy of Cox and Catt's decision to base productivity ratings solely on contributions to 1 journal. Using 5 journals, 4 programs were catapulted into the top 10 rankings, while 7 programs dropped from top rankings in the Cox study (1970–1975) to below the 65th rank in the present study. Using only the Journal of Applied Psychology contributions, 2 of these programs ranked in the top 10, 1976–1982. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skovholt, Stone, and Hill's (1984) "Institutional affiliations of contributors to scholarly and professional activities in counseling psychology: 1980–1983": A critique.

Contends that, in the study by T. M. Skovholt et al (see record 1984-29784-001), in which they analyzed professional and scholarly contributions to counseling psychology according to institutional affiliation, a method was used that resulted in some programs being ranked higher and other programs being ranked lower than they might have been had all the data been used in generating the rankings. Alternate rankings are presented with a caution to future scholars to carefully consider the methods they use for these ratings and to present full data so that readers know all the limitations of the analysis. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived hierarchy of help-giving sources for two categories of student problems.

168 undergraduates ranked 12 help sources in terms of perceived potential for help with 2 categories of problems-emotional and educational-vocational. Problem type, sex of Ss, and counseling experience after high school did not significantly discriminate between the rankings given help-givers. However, high school counseling experience of Ss did significantly discriminate between the rankings. For emotional concerns, Ss ranked student friend 1st, an older friend 2nd, and parents 3rd. For educational-vocational problems, Ss ranked faculty advisor 1st, faculty member 2nd, and student friend 3rd. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Letter preferences: Ranking the alphabet.

"A sample of 100 college students ranked the alphabet according to their preference for the appearance of the capital letter. Rankings are presented for the total sample, and for subgroups based on age and sex. Coefficients of concordance among judges are low, but the rankings for the total sample and the age and sex subsamples appear to be quite reliable." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonparametric large-sample pairwise comparisons.

The Tukey procedure for making pairwise comparisons among means is discussed within the context of 3 nonparametric models. Examples are presented in which the Tukey procedure, in accord with H. O. Hartley's (1950) results, is employed to make comparisons associated with W. H. Kruskal and W. Wallis's (1952) 1-way ANOVA for ranked data, M. Friedman's (1937) 2-way ANOVA for ranked data, and W. G. Cochran's (1950) test of change for dichotomous data. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The check list as a criterion of proficiency.

Four typical tasks were administered to a sample of 15 naval aviation structural mechanics, whose performances in process were rated on specially-constructed check lists by one or more examiners. The end-products were then independently ranked in over-all quality from best to worst by five experts. The median correlation (rho) between pairs of expert rankings was .89 and .95 for two of the tasks, and .29 and .37 for the other two. Three of the four median correlations between rankings of the end products were not significantly different from the correlations of the expert rankings with rankings of the scores obtained from the check lists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ratings of psychology journals by members of the Canadian Psychological Association.

Analysis of Canadian ratings indicates similarities with journal rankings from the American Psychological Association survey sample. Two Canadian psychology journals were ranked in the top 10. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Which parishes are most healthy?

Raw data for 21 health outcomes are ranked from 1 to 64 within each measure for all Louisiana parishes. The average of all ranked outcome measures is reported along with the individual ranked scores. This average rank for all parishes is also reported as a quartile score. The ranked measures are grouped in eight categories suggested by the Healthy People 2000 program, and a quartile score is reported for the average of each of the categories. The purpose of this rankings is to enable comparisons of health outcomes between and within the parishes. The diversity of the measures within parishes suggests strengths and weaknesses for each community. As suggested by the Healthy People 2000 program, health outcomes, when organized in the conceptual categories, suggest how behavior and attitude impact on health status.     

Are they really that happy? Exploring scale recalibration in estimates of well-being.

Objective: The authors addressed a lingering concern in research on hedonic adaptation to adverse circumstances. This research typically relies on self-report measures of well-being, which are subjective and depend on the standards that people use in making judgments. The authors employed a novel method to test for, and rule out, such scale recalibration in self-reports of well-being. Design: The authors asked patients with chronic illness (either lung disease or diabetes) and nonpatients to evaluate quality of life (QoL) for the patients' disease. In addition, the authors also asked them to rank and rate the aversiveness of a diverse set of adverse circumstances, allowing examination of both the numerical ratings and ordering among items. Main Outcome Measures: The authors compared patients' and nonpatients' ratings and rankings for the patients' disease and other conditions. Results and Conclusion: The authors found that patients not only assigned higher numerical QoL ratings to their own disease than did nonpatients but also ranked it higher among the broad set of conditions. These results suggest that scale recalibration cannot account for discrepant QoL ratings between patients and nonpatients. More generally, this study presents a new approach for measuring well-being that is not subject to the problem of scale recalibration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student and department chairman views of the performance of university professors.

Compared evaluations of students for 713 university courses taught over 4 semesters by 347 professors to rankings made by department chairmen of their faculty. The faculty were ranked by professional visibility, current research, teaching impact, communication ability, and departmental contributions. 16 of 27 rhos computed for visibility and student evaluations of teaching were negative. A substantial number of relationships for research were around zero. Relationships for teaching and communications were moderately positive. One-year stability coefficients of rankings by chairmen were high for a single chairman but considerably lower when a change of chairman took place. In a chairman's view, research and visibility are highly related, but effective teaching is only moderately related to these performance criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological tests: Clinical usage versus psychometric quality.

31 academic psychologists ranked the 10 most used psychological tests for their "overall quality of psychometric refinement." Comparisons were made between test quality and test usage in 1969 and 1974. A significant relationship was found between test quality ranks and test usage ranks in 1974. Agreement among psychologists' rankings was high. Results show that objective-format tests, which are beginning to realize a greater use clinically than projective techniques, were viewed as better psychometrically. Although a significant relationship was found between test quality and usage, only one-third of the variance in test usage was accounted for by test quality, indicating that test usage was not primarily a function of test quality. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reappraisal of topical steroid potency

Topical corticosteroids have been one of the cornerstones of dermatologic treatment for nearly 40 years. At present the most widely used topical steroid ranking system is the vasoconstrictor assay. To determine whether this is a satisfactory measure of the agents' potency in clinical settings, we examined rankings from the published literature achieved by four different methods: vasoconstriction, clinical outcome, therapeutic index (a ratio of efficacy to systemic safety), and cost, safety, and efficacy. Overall clinical outcome (efficacy) rankings in this study corresponded in only 11 (62%) of 17 topical steroid preparations with the expected vasoconstrictor rankings. The therapeutic index rankings did not correspond with the clinical outcome (33%) or the vasoconstrictor assay (33%) rankings. It was difficult to compare studies because of lack of standardization of clinical trials. We urge that topical steroid rankings not be based solely on vasoconstrictor assays, and that a standard method be developed for clinical trials of the drugs to allow for comparison among preparations.     

The congruence of projective instruments in personnel assessment.

Projective instruments administered to a group of 63 pharmacists (Patterned Interview, Biographical Summary, Sentence Completion Test, and abbreviated TAT) were both ranked and rated by 3 analysts. Inter-instrument congruences were computed from both the rankings and the ratings. "The agreement found… is sufficiently acceptable to proceed with a study of the validity of our conclusions… . These results have been obtained on a [highly homogeneous] sample." 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct revalidation of a forced-choice rating form.

A forced-choice rating form was revalidated by using a type of construct validation based on the hypothesis that a manager's effectiveness is reflected in the performance level of his subordinates. 11 plant managers were ranked on overall effectiveness by 3 independent judges, and the relationship between these rankings and the average performance report scores of 142 first-line supervisors in the respective plants was determined by analysis of variance and correlation techniques. Results showed a significant overall relationship between plant-manager rankings and production-supervisor scores on the forced-choice form (p = .005) and significant correlations on 2 of the 6 subscales, with the highest relationship apparent in the Human Relations area (p = .025). The findings support the hypothesis of a relationship between management effectiveness and subordinate performance, and provide evidence to indicate continued validity of the rating instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of risk-adjusting cesarean delivery rates when reporting hospital performance

CONTEXT: Hospitals and health plans are often ranked on rates of cesarean delivery, under the assumption that lower rates reflect more appropriate, more efficient care. However, most rankings do not account for patient factors that affect the likelihood of cesarean delivery. OBJECTIVE: To compare hospital cesarean delivery rates before and after adjusting for clinical risk factors that increase the likelihood of cesarean delivery. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Twenty-one hospitals in northeast Ohio. PATIENTS: A total of 26127 women without prior cesarean deliveries admitted for labor and delivery from January 1993 through June 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospital rankings based on observed and risk-adjusted cesarean delivery rates. RESULTS: The overall cesarean delivery rate was 15.9% and varied (P<.001) from 6.3% to 26.5% in individual hospitals. Adjusted rates varied from 8.4% to 22.0%. The correlation between unadjusted and adjusted hospital rankings (ie, 1-21) was only modest (R=0.35, P=.12). Whereas 7 hospitals were classified as outliers (ie, had rates higher or lower [P<.05] than overall rate) on the basis of both unadjusted and adjusted rates, outlier status changed for 5 hospitals (24%), including 2 that changed from outliers to nonoutliers, 2 that changed from nonoutliers to outliers, and 1 that changed from a high outlier to a low outlier. CONCLUSIONS: Cesarean delivery rates varied across hospitals in a single metropolitan region. However, rankings that fail to account for clinical factors that increase the risk of cesarean delivery may be methodologically biased and misleading to the public.     

A study of engineers' criteria for creativity.

"The meaning of creativity was investigated by asking engineers in a large industrial firm to give reasons why men they had ranked highest in creativity differed from those ranked lowest… . The sample consisted of 36 men from research groups, 36 from service groups, and 35 from project groups… . six criteria for creativity used… . These men also justified their rankings on creativity of answers to brief open-end engineering problems. No significant differences in the bases for such judgments were noted between engineers and supervisors of engineers. The content analysis results verified a widespread impression in the literature that the novelty and worth of ideas are important factors in creativity. It also brought out other factors… . such as independence in problem solving and the achievement of comprehensive answers." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Estimation of the reliability of average of rankings.

A formula for estimating the average reliability of a set of rankings, based on n sets, each reduced to standard score form, is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived sources of social power.

A cross-cultural analysis of the concept of power was conducted, comparing the attitudes of boys 12-14 years old in a camp for underprivileged and disturbed children and a group of female school teachers enrolled in a graduate extension course. A significantly high correlation for the 2 groups was found between the rankings of 6 traits related to the source of social power. Helpfulness and fairness were ranked highest, fearlessness and physical strength least important in regard to perceived capacity for social manipulation. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GF39R. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Double, double, toil and trouble: Pitfalls of suppositional inquiries of journal ratings.

Three recent comments in the September 1976 issue (Buss & McDermott; Levin & Kratochwill; Porter (see record 1990-57250-001; see record 1990-57248-001; and see record 1990-57249-001), attempting to deal with the difficult area of assessing journal "reputations," raised some interesting questions concerning our study reporting journal rankings (Koulack & Keselman, November 1975; see record 1976-24649-001). We are in agreement with Buss and McDermott (1976) that citations and rankings might not be measuring the same things, but we are in disagreement with Porter, who suggests that "fine ordering among journals is whimsical" (p. 675). In fact, as we suggest in our introduction and have demonstrated in the body of our article (Koulack & Keselman, 1975), journal rankings change as a function of type of work and area of interest. Perhaps Porter's (1976) findings might be a bit whimsical because of the procedure he used to obtain his correlations. Moreover, it is impossible to probe further because Porter does not present the rankings of the two journals chosen from the APA members' top 50, which appeared in either of the citation measures' top 50. Such data might provide some insight into the low correlations obtained between journal citations and rankings. For example, extremely low citation rankings on either citation index for these two journals, given their relatively high position in the APA membership rankings, would diminish the size of the correlation coefficients. The Levin and Kratochwill (1976) comment is somewhat annoying because it distorts a line from Shakespeare as well as misrepresents our presentation. They imply that (a) we thought our rankings represented a definitive approach to the journal rating problem, (b) we neglected to place emphasis on a table presented in the paper, and (c) respondents chose to ignore our instructions and in fact, rated journals on the basis of familiarity. In conclusion, we appreciate the fact that there are numerous ways of examining journal reputations (e.g., rankings by departmental chairpersons, rankings by APA membership, citations obtained from 77 psychology journals published in 1969, citations obtained from 3 psychology journals published from July 1973 to June 1975) and that each of them has potential value. However, comments that are not based on empirical investigation, such as those of Levin and Kratochwill (1976), are mere suppositions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)