Measurement Development and Validation in Research

This chapter describes the importance of measurement in social research and education research. In order to validly compare across groups, whether it is age, gender, ethnicities, or cultures, measurement invariance needs to be established. This is accomplished through single-group and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. The procedural approach is presented with a detailed illustration from real research in servant leadership in K-12 principals in the United States. Second-order confirmatory factor analysis is described due to its popularity. Procedural steps are cited, and an example is given for illustration. As a major statistical technique in instrument development, exploratory factor analysis is discussed and illustrated at the beginning of this chapter

Educating IT Professionals Using Effective Online, Pedagogical, and Scheduling Techniques

Information technology professionals comprise an important segment of adult learners seeking a four-year undergraduate degree, and it is important to provide programs that address not only the conceptual and theoretical, but also adult learning needs in terms of career orientation and practicality together with providing real-life applications relevant to the needs of the IT job marketplace. The techniques of employing distance learning, providing modular and practical learning segments, emphasizing adult-oriented learning preferences, engaging users toward learning, and providing appropriate course schedules and sequencing are discussed in the context of an actual adult learner program. This program integrates job and career-oriented needs with that of a well-rounded business education. Examples and illustrations are provided to illustrate how an adult-oriented program was customized to provide needs important to adult learners and IT professionals, with the objective of producing superior and useful learning results