Item-response theory (IRT)assumes that the model fits the data. One commonly overlooked aspect of model-fit assessment is an examination of personfit, or person-fit assessment (PFA). One reason that PFA lacks popularity among psychometricians is that comprehensive software is notpresent.This dissertation outlines the development and testing ofa new software package, called wizirt, that will begin to meet this need. This software package provides a wide gamut of tools to the user but is currently limited to unidimensional, dichotomous, and parametricmodels. The wizirt package is built in the open source language R, where it combines the capabilities of a number of other R packages under a single syntax.In addition to the wizirt package, I have created a number of resources to help users learn to use the package. This includes support for individuals who have never used R before, as well as more experienced R users.

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O presente trabalho tem como objetivos um estudo de validade e a proposta de uma versão adaptada para o Português do Inventário de Temperamento e Caráter, desenvolvido por Cloninger para crianças (JTCI). Este instrumento avalia a personalidade da criança sob o ponto de vista do modelo dimensional de Cloninger, que propõe quatro dimensões para temperamento (busca de novidades, evitação de danos, dependência de recompensa e persistência) e três dimensões para caráter (auto-diretividade, cooperatividade e auto-transcendência). O JTCI é um instrumento de auto-preenchimento e que contém 128 perguntas, adaptadas à faixa etária de 9 a 13 anos. População estudada: crianças entre 9 e 13 anos (n = 188), regularmente matriculadas no ensino fundamental dos setores público e privado de ensino do Estado de São Paulo. Análise dos dados: Análise da estrutura interna do teste, através da verificação da consistência interna dos traços de temperamento e de caráter com as questões que compõem o instrumento, através do cálculo do coeficiente Alpha de Cronbach e da análise fatorial (pacote estatístico SPSS 12.0 for Windows). Resultados: após a análise estatística, verificou-se que muitos itens apresentavam baixas correlações com suas variáveis, o que interferia no poder do teste. A retirada de 36 itens que apresentavam baixa correlação com suas respectivas variáveis possibilitou que novos valores de correlação fossem obtidos, aumentando-se assim a consistência interna dos domínios avaliados e confirmando o poder do teste. Conclusão: uma versão válida e adaptada para o Português é proposta, com 92 itens / The current work focuses on a validity study and the proposal for an adapted version to Portuguese of the Junior Character and Temperament Inventory, developed by Cloninger for children. This instrument evaluates the childs personality through Clonigers dimensional model, which proposes four temperament dimensions (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence) and three character dimensions (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence). The Inventory is a self-report document containing 128 questions adapted to children aged 9-13 years. Sample: children aged 9-13 years (n=188), regularly enrolled in the State of São Paulos private and public primary and secondary schools. Data analysis: Tests internal structure analysis, through internal consistency check of temperament and character traits using the questions within the document by the Cronbach alphas and the factorial analysis (statistical analysis software SPSS 12.0 for Windows). Results: After statistical analysis, it was verified that several items showed low correlations with their respective variables, which interfered with the tests power. After removing 36 items which presented low correlation with their variables, new correlation values were obtained, enhancing the internal consistency of evaluated domains and confirming the tests power. Conclusion: a valid and adapted version to Portuguese is proposed, with 92 items

Este estudo objetivou a adaptação transcultural do questionário Cultural Study of Musculo-Skeletal and Other Symptoms and Associated Disability - CUPID Questionnaire, para a língua portuguesa falada no Brasil e a validação do seu conteúdo. O estudo é do tipo metodológico e foi realizado obedecendo aos procedimentos internacionais recomendados e aos procedimentos específicos indicados pelo autor do Questionário, uma vez que será aplicado em estudo multicêntrico por ele coordenado. A adaptação transcultural foi realizada seguindo as etapas de tradução, retrotradução, avaliação destas versões por um comitê de juízes e pré-teste da versão pré-final. O pré-teste foi realizado no Departamento de Enfermagem do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo com 40 trabalhadores de enfermagem. Ajustes foram feitos após a análise das traduções pelo comitê de juízes quando o Índice de Validade de Conteúdo foi inferior a 80%. A versão resultante do questionário foi então pré-testada para verificar a capacidade compreensão e preenchimento pelos sujeitos e a possibilidade de ajustes, considerando o indicativo de ajustes quando 15% destes apresentassem dificuldades em relação ao preenchimento. Os resultados do pré-teste apontam um número significativo de trabalhadores de enfermagem com dores em região lombar, ombro, cotovelo, punho e/ou mão e joelho, associados a sintomas psicossociais e demais incapacidades. A análise das respostas dos sujeitos aos itens do Questionário não evidenciou dificuldades de compreensão e entendimento na totalidade dos itens, indicando a validade de seu conteúdo para a língua portuguesa falada no Brasil. Conclui-se que a versão Brasileira do CUPID Questionnaire é um instrumento adequado para identificar os sintomas musculoesqueléticos, indicados pelos trabalhadores de enfermagem, relacionados às atividades ocupacionais, aspectos psicossociais e outras incapacidades associadas / The objective of this study was to adapt the Transcultural Questionnaire Cultural Study of Muscular-Skeletal and Other Symptoms and Associated Disability CUPID Questionnaire, to the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil and to validate its contents. This methodological study was performed in accordance with internationally recommended procedures and the specific procedures indicated by the Questionnaires author since it will be applied in a multicenter study coordinated by the author. The transcultural adaptation was performed following the steps of translation, back-translation, evaluation of these versions by a committee of judges and pre-test version of the pre-final. The pre-test was performed in the Nursing Department of University Hospital at the University of Sao Paulo with 40 nursing workers. Adjustments were made after an analysis of the translations by a committee of judges when an index of content validation was less than 80%. The resulting version of the questionnaire was then pre-tested to verify the capacity of comprehension and form completion by the subjects and the possibility of adjustments considering an adjustment indicator when 15% of them presented difficulty related to form completion. The results of this pre-test showed that a significant number of Nursing workers complained of pain in the regions of lumbar, shoulder, elbow, wrist and or hand and knee, symptoms associated with psychosocial and other disabilities. Analysis of the subjects responses to items of the questionnaire revealed no difficulty in the comprehension and total understanding of the items indicating a validity of its contents for the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil. It can be concluded that the Brazilian Version of the CUPID Questionnaire is an adequate instrument for the identification of musculoskeletal symptoms indicated by nursing workers related to occupational activities, psychosocial aspects and other associated incapacities

O presente trabalho tem como objetivos um estudo de validade e a proposta de uma versão adaptada para o Português do Inventário de Temperamento e Caráter, desenvolvido por Cloninger para crianças (JTCI). Este instrumento avalia a personalidade da criança sob o ponto de vista do modelo dimensional de Cloninger, que propõe quatro dimensões para temperamento (busca de novidades, evitação de danos, dependência de recompensa e persistência) e três dimensões para caráter (auto-diretividade, cooperatividade e auto-transcendência). O JTCI é um instrumento de auto-preenchimento e que contém 128 perguntas, adaptadas à faixa etária de 9 a 13 anos. População estudada: crianças entre 9 e 13 anos (n = 188), regularmente matriculadas no ensino fundamental dos setores público e privado de ensino do Estado de São Paulo. Análise dos dados: Análise da estrutura interna do teste, através da verificação da consistência interna dos traços de temperamento e de caráter com as questões que compõem o instrumento, através do cálculo do coeficiente Alpha de Cronbach e da análise fatorial (pacote estatístico SPSS 12.0 for Windows). Resultados: após a análise estatística, verificou-se que muitos itens apresentavam baixas correlações com suas variáveis, o que interferia no poder do teste. A retirada de 36 itens que apresentavam baixa correlação com suas respectivas variáveis possibilitou que novos valores de correlação fossem obtidos, aumentando-se assim a consistência interna dos domínios avaliados e confirmando o poder do teste. Conclusão: uma versão válida e adaptada para o Português é proposta, com 92 itens / The current work focuses on a validity study and the proposal for an adapted version to Portuguese of the Junior Character and Temperament Inventory, developed by Cloninger for children. This instrument evaluates the childs personality through Clonigers dimensional model, which proposes four temperament dimensions (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence) and three character dimensions (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence). The Inventory is a self-report document containing 128 questions adapted to children aged 9-13 years. Sample: children aged 9-13 years (n=188), regularly enrolled in the State of São Paulos private and public primary and secondary schools. Data analysis: Tests internal structure analysis, through internal consistency check of temperament and character traits using the questions within the document by the Cronbach alphas and the factorial analysis (statistical analysis software SPSS 12.0 for Windows). Results: After statistical analysis, it was verified that several items showed low correlations with their respective variables, which interfered with the tests power. After removing 36 items which presented low correlation with their variables, new correlation values were obtained, enhancing the internal consistency of evaluated domains and confirming the tests power. Conclusion: a valid and adapted version to Portuguese is proposed, with 92 items

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the effects of changing body position on the execution of the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP). Furthermore, while there is evidence to suggest that there is an effect of familiarization on performance of maximal strength tests, there has been no known research evaluating the effect of learning on the IMTP. The effect of familiarization was assessed by evaluating changes in variables obtained from the IMTP. Subjects did not statistically improve over the five IMTP testing sessions, regardless of the body position used, or if subjects had previous experience with weightlifting derivatives. This may indicate that little familiarization is needed for subjects to perform the IMTP before acute increases due to learning stabilize. When body positions were compared, there were differences in force production whether subjects had or did not have experience with weightlifting movements. The magnitude of difference between body position was affected by weightlifting movement experience; lifters with >6 months experience with weightlifting had larger differences in force production between position. Average muscle activation for a variety of muscles, evaluated with surface EMG, appeared to differ between body positions, although these positions are idiosyncratic to experience level. In particular, lumbar erector spinae activation was higher in the bent position for both groups, which may have implications for low back injury risk.In entirety, it appears that if maximizing force production is the goal, the upright positon is optimal. Furthermore, the differing body positions have meaningfully different effects on how 3 much individual muscles are activated between positions. Lastly, substantial familiarization does not appear to be necessary before subjects perform the IMTP.

<p>This is a descriptive ethnographical study with the purpose of examining teachers’ and students’ experiences of oral examination at a State Pedagogical University in western Russia. The study also focused on finding the characteristics of oral examination and the contextual factors influencing its implementation. The research was done using participatory observations and interviews. The results show that interviewees experience oral assessment in general as positive. Their descriptions are summarised and analysed using a number of key concepts, of which flexibility, subjectivity, individualisation, and fairness are the most important. The study also shows that contextual factors such as culture, traditions, and organisational framework have large impact on how the examination is done. The conclusion is that oral examination has both gins and losses, since the teacher’s active participation creates possibilities for individualisation and deep probing of the students’ knowledge, but is also a source of bias because of its subjectivity.</p>

This is a descriptive ethnographical study with the purpose of examining teachers’ and students’ experiences of oral examination at a State Pedagogical University in western Russia. The study also focused on finding the characteristics of oral examination and the contextual factors influencing its implementation. The research was done using participatory observations and interviews. The results show that interviewees experience oral assessment in general as positive. Their descriptions are summarised and analysed using a number of key concepts, of which flexibility, subjectivity, individualisation, and fairness are the most important. The study also shows that contextual factors such as culture, traditions, and organisational framework have large impact on how the examination is done. The conclusion is that oral examination has both gins and losses, since the teacher’s active participation creates possibilities for individualisation and deep probing of the students’ knowledge, but is also a source of bias because of its subjectivity.

This study was designed to investigate if the Batería Woodcock-Muñoz: Pruebas de Habilidad Cognitiva- Revisada is a valid cross-cultural tool to measure the cognitive ability students of three Spanish-speaking groups from two different Spanish-speaking countries. One group is represented by culturally diverse bilingual Spanish dominant students in Tucson, Arizona since there is an overrepresentation of bilingual students receiving special education services in all school districts in this area. The second group consists of monolingual Spanish-speakers from Costa Rica referred for special education. The third group constitutes monolingual Spanish speakers from Costa Rica performing at grade level.This research analyzed whether or not Memory for Sentences, a sub-test of Short Term Memory, Visual Integration and Picture Recognition sub-tests of Visual Processing in the Psycho-educational Batería Woodcock-Muñoz, is more difficult for the special education Spanish/bilingual population in Tucson than for the monolingual Spanish-speaking special education and grade level individuals in Costa Rica. Item p-value differences in each subtest were estimated and compared for all items for each subtest to detect if a major item difficulty order difference existed between Spanish-speaking groups that could be indicative of internal criteria of test bias. Results show that the item order of difficulty affects the tests' established cut off rules for both Costa Rican populations in the Memory for Sentences test, making it invalid for these populations; and that the Tucson sample group's performance is lower than that of both Costa Rican groups. In addition, both Visual Processing subtests are invalid for all groups compared since the item order of difficulty does not match the test item order, thus affecting the enforcement of the cut off rules and making these subtests invalid for these populations.Standardized assessments and intelligence trait are considered the results of mathematical and statistical expressions built on test developers' own cultural views and minds. They follow along the lines of the traditional reductionist assessment or scientific/medical models. As a result, it is concluded that bilingual populations will be at disadvantage because standardized assessment neither links assessment to familiar language, cultural relevant information, and experiences nor considers how the bilingual mind processes information.

Este estudo objetivou a adaptação transcultural do questionário Cultural Study of Musculo-Skeletal and Other Symptoms and Associated Disability - CUPID Questionnaire, para a língua portuguesa falada no Brasil e a validação do seu conteúdo. O estudo é do tipo metodológico e foi realizado obedecendo aos procedimentos internacionais recomendados e aos procedimentos específicos indicados pelo autor do Questionário, uma vez que será aplicado em estudo multicêntrico por ele coordenado. A adaptação transcultural foi realizada seguindo as etapas de tradução, retrotradução, avaliação destas versões por um comitê de juízes e pré-teste da versão pré-final. O pré-teste foi realizado no Departamento de Enfermagem do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo com 40 trabalhadores de enfermagem. Ajustes foram feitos após a análise das traduções pelo comitê de juízes quando o Índice de Validade de Conteúdo foi inferior a 80%. A versão resultante do questionário foi então pré-testada para verificar a capacidade compreensão e preenchimento pelos sujeitos e a possibilidade de ajustes, considerando o indicativo de ajustes quando 15% destes apresentassem dificuldades em relação ao preenchimento. Os resultados do pré-teste apontam um número significativo de trabalhadores de enfermagem com dores em região lombar, ombro, cotovelo, punho e/ou mão e joelho, associados a sintomas psicossociais e demais incapacidades. A análise das respostas dos sujeitos aos itens do Questionário não evidenciou dificuldades de compreensão e entendimento na totalidade dos itens, indicando a validade de seu conteúdo para a língua portuguesa falada no Brasil. Conclui-se que a versão Brasileira do CUPID Questionnaire é um instrumento adequado para identificar os sintomas musculoesqueléticos, indicados pelos trabalhadores de enfermagem, relacionados às atividades ocupacionais, aspectos psicossociais e outras incapacidades associadas / The objective of this study was to adapt the Transcultural Questionnaire Cultural Study of Muscular-Skeletal and Other Symptoms and Associated Disability CUPID Questionnaire, to the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil and to validate its contents. This methodological study was performed in accordance with internationally recommended procedures and the specific procedures indicated by the Questionnaires author since it will be applied in a multicenter study coordinated by the author. The transcultural adaptation was performed following the steps of translation, back-translation, evaluation of these versions by a committee of judges and pre-test version of the pre-final. The pre-test was performed in the Nursing Department of University Hospital at the University of Sao Paulo with 40 nursing workers. Adjustments were made after an analysis of the translations by a committee of judges when an index of content validation was less than 80%. The resulting version of the questionnaire was then pre-tested to verify the capacity of comprehension and form completion by the subjects and the possibility of adjustments considering an adjustment indicator when 15% of them presented difficulty related to form completion. The results of this pre-test showed that a significant number of Nursing workers complained of pain in the regions of lumbar, shoulder, elbow, wrist and or hand and knee, symptoms associated with psychosocial and other disabilities. Analysis of the subjects responses to items of the questionnaire revealed no difficulty in the comprehension and total understanding of the items indicating a validity of its contents for the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil. It can be concluded that the Brazilian Version of the CUPID Questionnaire is an adequate instrument for the identification of musculoskeletal symptoms indicated by nursing workers related to occupational activities, psychosocial aspects and other associated incapacities