Developmental Ordering, Scale Types, and Strong Inference

Developmental ordering, 1 item preceding another in development, is a primary piece of evidence in developmental research. However, testing developmental ordering hypotheses is remarkably difficult; the problem is that researchers rarely have absolute measures (ratio scales). Therefore, directly com...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 1998-01, Vol.34 (1), p.131-145
Main Author: Dixon, James A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child Behavior - psychology
Child Development
Child Development - physiology
Child psychology
Child, Preschool
Concept Formation - physiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Data Analysis
Developmental Psychology
Developmental Sequences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human Development
Humans
Hypothesis Testing
Inferences
Methodology. Experimentation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics. Statistics. Methodology
Rating Scales
Ratio Scales
Research Methodology
Research Problems
Statistical analysis
Statistical Data
Statistical Inference
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:Developmental ordering, 1 item preceding another in development, is a primary piece of evidence in developmental research. However, testing developmental ordering hypotheses is remarkably difficult; the problem is that researchers rarely have absolute measures (ratio scales). Therefore, directly comparing 2 measures is often not sensible. This article demonstrates that, depending on the type of scale, the observed data pattern is constrained by the underlying relationship. Although the observed data pattern may not reflect the exact relationship, it does limit the possible relationships. Researchers can use this information to reject potential underlying relationships. An application of the method of strong inference ( J. R. Platt, 1964 ) is outlined whereby researchers can use observed data patterns to systematically reject competing developmental ordering hypotheses. The approach requires only standard statistical methods and assumptions.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.34.1.131