I had the great chance to co-author two recent publications of Timo Gnambs, both dealing with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965). As a reminder, the RSES is a popular ten item self-report instrument measuring a respondent’s global self-worth and self-respect. But basically both papers are not about the RSES per se, rather they are applications of two recently introduced powerful and flexible extensions of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Framework: Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling (MASEM) and Local Weighted Structural Equation Modeling (LSEM), which will be described in more detail later on.

After several years running this website on WordPress, it’s time for a change. WordPress has become overloaded, sometimes the back-end is not responsive, and writing a blog post is too tedious—in a nutshell, WordPress isn’t right for me. Hugo is an open-source static site generator built around Google’s Go programming language, which is renowned for its speed. In contrast to dynamic websites that heavily rely on php-scripting and MySQL-databases that are used to store all the content, static websites consist of html, css, and js.

Reference. Lenhard, W., Schroeders, U., & Lenhard, A. (2017). Equivalence of screen versus print reading comprehension depends on task complexity and proficiency. Discourse Processes, 54(5-6), 427–445. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2017.1319653 Abstract. As reading and reading assessment become increasingly implemented on electronic devices, the question arises whether reading on screen is comparable with reading on paper. To examine potential differences, we studied reading processes on different proficiency and complexity levels. Specifically, we used data from the standardization sample of the German reading comprehension test ELFE II (n = 2,807), which assesses reading at word, sentence, and text level with separate speeded subtests.

I signed the Commitment to Research Transparency and Open Science, which was initially worded by Felix Schönbrodt, Markus Maier, Moritz Heene, and Michael Zehetleitner from the LMU Munich. The first paragraph of this commitment summarizes the overall aim: We embrace the values of openness and transparency in science. We believe that such research practices increase the informational value and impact of our research, as the data can be reanalyzed and synthesized in future studies.

Reference. Schroeders, U., Wilhelm, O., & Olaru, G. (2016). Meta-heuristics in short scale construction: Ant Colony Optimization and Genetic Algorithm. PLOS ONE, 11, e0167110. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167110 Abstract. The advent of large-scale assessment, but also the more frequent use of longitudinal and multivariate approaches to measurement in psychological, educational, and sociological research, caused an increased demand for psychometrically sound short scales. Shortening scales economizes on valuable administration time, but might result in inadequate measures because reducing an item set could: a) change the internal structure of the measure, b) result in poorer reliability and measurement precision, c) deliver measures that cannot effectively discriminate between persons on the intended ability spectrum, and d) reduce test-criterion relations.