Harold A. Edgerton

The method of minimum variation for the combination of criteria

The problem of weighting separate criterion variates is solved by minimizing the differences among the standard scores of the individual upon the various measures. The method is compared with Horsts procedure of maximizing the inter-individual differences. An application is made to personnel data.

Technical Aspects of the Fourth Annual Science Talent Search

I. Backgrouqtd THE present article is a statistical review of certain aspects of the selection procedures used in the Fourth Annual Science Talent Search.’ This annual competition is conducted jointly by Science Clubs of America, administered by Science Service, and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The selection of students t o be trained as scientists involves, first of all, a description of the kinds of persons to be selected. This description must then be made operational in terms of the development of appropriate instruments and procedures so that the kinds of persons demanded by the description will be selected. In this connection, the selection procedures for the Fourth Annual Science Talent Search were as follows: Of about 15,000 entrants, complete entry materials-namely, Science Aptitude Examination, personal data, scholarship record, and scientific essay-were received from 2,746 high-school seniors (1,970 boys and 776 girls). This group of students, then, were considered to have completed the first hurdle. The second hurdle, the Science Aptitude Examination, was similar to that of the previous year. Instead of two parts, however, i t contained three: the first third was composed of scientific problems, with multiple-choice answers; the second part consisted of a paragraph reading test on materials from AND

The Thurstone Primary Mental Abilities Tests and College Marks

Thurstone’s development of his Primary Mental Abilities Tests was for the purpose of appraising seven primary factors of mind.’ His isolation of these factors and the development of the final test battery is described in the monograph &dquo;Primary Mental Abilities.&dquo;’ Thurstone brie8y describes the factors on his individual record sheet for the tests as follows: &dquo;Factor P. The tests that call for this ability require the quick perception of detail in either visual or verbal material. This seems

Two Tests for Early Identification of Scientific Ability1

BEING a scientist has its roots in one’s earlier experiences. Just where such roots start is not known. However, one possible and convenient time of cultivation lies in the ages just prior to junior high school. If some of the boys and girls who have potential as scientists can be identified at this age, it would be possible to help them to benefit from early recognition as they go on in junior and senior high school. Any program aimed at early identification of science potential must be positive in its approach. A program may identify boys and girls who show potential at a given age; failure to be so identified is

Stanine Values for Ranks for Different Numbers of Things Ranked

WHEN confronted with the need for comparing relative class standing in classes of different sizes, the concept of the Stanine appears to be a useful answer. The Stanine is a one digit number and occupies only one column in an IBM card. Its use assumes that the distribution of marks for the various classes have the same mean and standard deviation, and are normally distributed. Table 1 was designed to convert the relative class standing of individual members of classes into Stanine values. To find the Stanine for a student standing 13th in a class of 37:

Science Talent: Its Early Identification and Later Development

SELDOM HAS it been possible to review careers I in science by comparing evidence obtained before the career was started with evidence obtained after the career was well launched. The study reported here makes some comparisons of the career records of 1550 men and women. These were high school seniors in 1942 or 1943, and at that time competed in one of the first two Annual Science Talent Search es for the Westinghouse Science Scholarships and Awards. Their records at that time are compared with their achievements in 1957.

A table to aid in the computation of fisher's “t” function for comparison of two means

A table to facilitate the computation of Fisherst function for the comparison of two means is presented. The derivations leading to the construction of the table, and the necessary instructions for its use, are given.