Author: Patricia Martinková
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000899179
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
This book covers the computational aspects of psychometric methods involved in developing measurement instruments and analyzing measurement data in social sciences. It covers the main topics of psychometrics such as validity, reliability, item analysis, item response theory models, and computerized adaptive testing. The computational aspects comprise the statistical theory and models, comparison of estimation methods and algorithms, as well as an implementation with practical data examples in R and also in an interactive ShinyItemAnalysis application. Key Features: Statistical models and estimation methods involved in psychometric research Includes reproducible R code and examples with real datasets Interactive implementation in ShinyItemAnalysis application The book is targeted toward a wide range of researchers in the field of educational, psychological, and health-related measurements. It is also intended for those developing measurement instruments and for those collecting and analyzing data from behavioral measurements, who are searching for a deeper understanding of underlying models and further development of their analytical skills.
Computational Aspects of Psychometric Methods
Author: Patricia Martinková
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000899179
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
This book covers the computational aspects of psychometric methods involved in developing measurement instruments and analyzing measurement data in social sciences. It covers the main topics of psychometrics such as validity, reliability, item analysis, item response theory models, and computerized adaptive testing. The computational aspects comprise the statistical theory and models, comparison of estimation methods and algorithms, as well as an implementation with practical data examples in R and also in an interactive ShinyItemAnalysis application. Key Features: Statistical models and estimation methods involved in psychometric research Includes reproducible R code and examples with real datasets Interactive implementation in ShinyItemAnalysis application The book is targeted toward a wide range of researchers in the field of educational, psychological, and health-related measurements. It is also intended for those developing measurement instruments and for those collecting and analyzing data from behavioral measurements, who are searching for a deeper understanding of underlying models and further development of their analytical skills.
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000899179
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
This book covers the computational aspects of psychometric methods involved in developing measurement instruments and analyzing measurement data in social sciences. It covers the main topics of psychometrics such as validity, reliability, item analysis, item response theory models, and computerized adaptive testing. The computational aspects comprise the statistical theory and models, comparison of estimation methods and algorithms, as well as an implementation with practical data examples in R and also in an interactive ShinyItemAnalysis application. Key Features: Statistical models and estimation methods involved in psychometric research Includes reproducible R code and examples with real datasets Interactive implementation in ShinyItemAnalysis application The book is targeted toward a wide range of researchers in the field of educational, psychological, and health-related measurements. It is also intended for those developing measurement instruments and for those collecting and analyzing data from behavioral measurements, who are searching for a deeper understanding of underlying models and further development of their analytical skills.
Computational Aspects of Psychometric Methods
Author: Patrícia Martinková
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781003054313
Category : PSYCHOLOGY
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"This book covers the computational aspects of psychometric methods involved in developing measurement instruments and analyzing measurement data in social sciences. It covers the computational aspects of psychometric methods involved in developing measurement instruments and analyzing measurement data in social sciences. The computational aspects comprise both the statistical theory and models as well as implementation with practical data examples in R. The book is targeted toward a wide range of readers, such as researchers in the field of educational, psychological and health-related measurement. It is also intended for those developing measurement instruments and for those collecting and analyzing data from behavioral measurements, who are searching for a deeper understanding of underlying models and the further development of their analytical skills"--
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781003054313
Category : PSYCHOLOGY
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"This book covers the computational aspects of psychometric methods involved in developing measurement instruments and analyzing measurement data in social sciences. It covers the computational aspects of psychometric methods involved in developing measurement instruments and analyzing measurement data in social sciences. The computational aspects comprise both the statistical theory and models as well as implementation with practical data examples in R. The book is targeted toward a wide range of readers, such as researchers in the field of educational, psychological and health-related measurement. It is also intended for those developing measurement instruments and for those collecting and analyzing data from behavioral measurements, who are searching for a deeper understanding of underlying models and the further development of their analytical skills"--
Crime Mapping and Spatial Data Analysis using R
Author: Juan Medina Ariza
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000850781
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 451
Book Description
Crime mapping and analysis sit at the intersection of geocomputation, data visualisation and cartography, spatial statistics, environmental criminology, and crime analysis. This book brings together relevant knowledge from these fields into a practical, hands-on guide, providing a useful introduction and reference material for topics in crime mapping, the geography of crime, environmental criminology, and crime analysis. It can be used by students, practitioners, and academics alike, whether to develop a university course, to support further training and development, or to hone skills in self-teaching R and crime mapping and spatial data analysis. It is not an advanced statistics textbook, but rather an applied guide and later useful reference books, intended to be read and for readers to practice the learnings from each chapter in sequence. In the first part of this volume we introduce key concepts for geographic analysis and representation and provide the reader with the foundations needed to visualise spatial crime data. We then introduce a series of tools to study spatial homogeneity and dependence. A key focus in this section is how to visualise and detect local clusters of crime and repeat victimisation. The final chapters introduce the use of basic spatial models, which account for the distribution of crime across space. In terms of spatial data analysis the focus of the book is on spatial point pattern analysis and lattice or area data analysis.
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000850781
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 451
Book Description
Crime mapping and analysis sit at the intersection of geocomputation, data visualisation and cartography, spatial statistics, environmental criminology, and crime analysis. This book brings together relevant knowledge from these fields into a practical, hands-on guide, providing a useful introduction and reference material for topics in crime mapping, the geography of crime, environmental criminology, and crime analysis. It can be used by students, practitioners, and academics alike, whether to develop a university course, to support further training and development, or to hone skills in self-teaching R and crime mapping and spatial data analysis. It is not an advanced statistics textbook, but rather an applied guide and later useful reference books, intended to be read and for readers to practice the learnings from each chapter in sequence. In the first part of this volume we introduce key concepts for geographic analysis and representation and provide the reader with the foundations needed to visualise spatial crime data. We then introduce a series of tools to study spatial homogeneity and dependence. A key focus in this section is how to visualise and detect local clusters of crime and repeat victimisation. The final chapters introduce the use of basic spatial models, which account for the distribution of crime across space. In terms of spatial data analysis the focus of the book is on spatial point pattern analysis and lattice or area data analysis.
Principles of Psychological Assessment
Author: Isaac T. Petersen
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1003861164
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 647
Book Description
This book highlights the principles of psychological assessment to help researchers and clinicians better develop, evaluate, administer, score, integrate, and interpret psychological assessments. It discusses psychometrics (reliability and validity), the assessment of various psychological domains (behavior, personality, intellectual functioning), various measurement methods (e.g., questionnaires, observations, interviews, biopsychological assessments, performance-based assessments), and emerging analytical frameworks to evaluate and improve assessment including: generalizability theory, structural equation modeling, item response theory, and signal detection theory. The text also discusses ethics, test bias, and cultural and individual diversity. Key Features Gives analysis examples using free software Helps readers apply principles to research and practice Provides text, analysis code/syntax, R output, figures, and interpretations integrated to guide readers Uses the freely available petersenlab package for R Principles of Psychological Assessment: With Applied Examples in R is intended for use by graduate students, faculty, researchers, and practicing psychologists.
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1003861164
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 647
Book Description
This book highlights the principles of psychological assessment to help researchers and clinicians better develop, evaluate, administer, score, integrate, and interpret psychological assessments. It discusses psychometrics (reliability and validity), the assessment of various psychological domains (behavior, personality, intellectual functioning), various measurement methods (e.g., questionnaires, observations, interviews, biopsychological assessments, performance-based assessments), and emerging analytical frameworks to evaluate and improve assessment including: generalizability theory, structural equation modeling, item response theory, and signal detection theory. The text also discusses ethics, test bias, and cultural and individual diversity. Key Features Gives analysis examples using free software Helps readers apply principles to research and practice Provides text, analysis code/syntax, R output, figures, and interpretations integrated to guide readers Uses the freely available petersenlab package for R Principles of Psychological Assessment: With Applied Examples in R is intended for use by graduate students, faculty, researchers, and practicing psychologists.
Multilevel Modeling Using R
Author: W. Holmes Finch
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040004539
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
Like its bestselling predecessor, Multilevel Modeling Using R, Third Edition provides the reader with a helpful guide to conducting multilevel data modeling using the R software environment. After reviewing standard linear models, the authors present the basics of multilevel models and explain how to fit these models using R. They then show how to employ multilevel modeling with longitudinal data and demonstrate the valuable graphical options in R. The book also describes models for categorical dependent variables in both single-level and multilevel data. The third edition of the book includes several new topics that were not present in the second edition. Specifically, a new chapter has been included, focussing on fitting multilevel latent variable modeling in the R environment. With R, it is possible to fit a variety of latent variable models in the multilevel context, including factor analysis, structural models, item response theory, and latent class models. The third edition also includes new sections in Chapter 11 describing two useful alternatives to standard multilevel models, fixed effects models and generalized estimating equations. These approaches are particularly useful with small samples and when the researcher is interested in modeling the correlation structure within higher-level units (e.g., schools). The third edition also includes a new section on mediation modeling in the multilevel context, in Chapter 11. This thoroughly updated revision gives the reader state-of-the-art tools to launch their own investigations in multilevel modeling and gain insight into their research.
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040004539
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
Like its bestselling predecessor, Multilevel Modeling Using R, Third Edition provides the reader with a helpful guide to conducting multilevel data modeling using the R software environment. After reviewing standard linear models, the authors present the basics of multilevel models and explain how to fit these models using R. They then show how to employ multilevel modeling with longitudinal data and demonstrate the valuable graphical options in R. The book also describes models for categorical dependent variables in both single-level and multilevel data. The third edition of the book includes several new topics that were not present in the second edition. Specifically, a new chapter has been included, focussing on fitting multilevel latent variable modeling in the R environment. With R, it is possible to fit a variety of latent variable models in the multilevel context, including factor analysis, structural models, item response theory, and latent class models. The third edition also includes new sections in Chapter 11 describing two useful alternatives to standard multilevel models, fixed effects models and generalized estimating equations. These approaches are particularly useful with small samples and when the researcher is interested in modeling the correlation structure within higher-level units (e.g., schools). The third edition also includes a new section on mediation modeling in the multilevel context, in Chapter 11. This thoroughly updated revision gives the reader state-of-the-art tools to launch their own investigations in multilevel modeling and gain insight into their research.
Generalized Kernel Equating with Applications in R
Author: Marie Wiberg
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1315283751
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
Generalized Kernel Equating is a comprehensive guide for statisticians, psychometricians, and educational researchers aiming to master test score equating. This book introduces the Generalized Kernel Equating (GKE) framework, providing the necessary tools and methodologies for accurate and fair score comparisons. The book presents test score equating as a statistical problem and covers all commonly used data collection designs. It details the five steps of the GKE framework: presmoothing, estimating score probabilities, continuization, equating transformation, and evaluating the equating transformation. Various presmoothing strategies are explored, including log-linear models, item response theory models, beta4 models, and discrete kernel estimators. The estimation of score probabilities when using IRT models is described and Gaussian kernel continuization is extended to other kernels such as uniform, logistic, epanechnikov and adaptive kernels. Several bandwidth selection methods are described. The kernel equating transformation and variants of it are defined, and both equating-specific and statistical measures for evaluating equating transformations are included. Real data examples, guiding readers through the GKE steps with detailed R code and explanations are provided. Readers are equipped with an advanced knowledge and practical skills for implementing test score equating methods.
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1315283751
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
Generalized Kernel Equating is a comprehensive guide for statisticians, psychometricians, and educational researchers aiming to master test score equating. This book introduces the Generalized Kernel Equating (GKE) framework, providing the necessary tools and methodologies for accurate and fair score comparisons. The book presents test score equating as a statistical problem and covers all commonly used data collection designs. It details the five steps of the GKE framework: presmoothing, estimating score probabilities, continuization, equating transformation, and evaluating the equating transformation. Various presmoothing strategies are explored, including log-linear models, item response theory models, beta4 models, and discrete kernel estimators. The estimation of score probabilities when using IRT models is described and Gaussian kernel continuization is extended to other kernels such as uniform, logistic, epanechnikov and adaptive kernels. Several bandwidth selection methods are described. The kernel equating transformation and variants of it are defined, and both equating-specific and statistical measures for evaluating equating transformations are included. Real data examples, guiding readers through the GKE steps with detailed R code and explanations are provided. Readers are equipped with an advanced knowledge and practical skills for implementing test score equating methods.
Understanding Elections through Statistics
Author: Ole J. Forsberg
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 104013064X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
Elections are random events. From individuals deciding whether to vote, to individuals deciding who to vote for, to election authorities deciding what to count, the outcomes of competitive democratic elections are rarely known until election day... or beyond. Understanding Elections through Statistics explores this random phenomenon from three primary points of view: predicting the election outcome using opinion polls, testing the election outcome using government-reported data, and exploring election data to better understand the people. Written for those with only a brief introduction to statistics, this book takes you on a statistical journey from how polls are taken to how they can—and should—be used to estimate current popular opinion. Once an understanding of the election process is built, we turn toward testing elections for evidence of unfairness. While holding elections has become the de facto proof of government legitimacy, those electoral processes may hide the dirty little secret of the government, illicitly ensuring a favorable election outcome. This book includes these features designed to make your statistical journey more enjoyable: Vignettes of elections, including maps, starting each chapter to motivate the material In-chapter cues to help one avoid the heavy math—or to focus on it End-of-chapter problems designed to review and extend what was covered in the chapter Many opportunities to turn the power of the R Statistical Environment to the enclosed election data files, as well as to those you find interesting The second edition improves upon this and includes: A rewrite of several chapters to make the underlying concepts more clear A chapter dedicated to confidence intervals, what they mean, and what they do not Additional experiments to help you better understand the statistics of elections A new introduction to polling, its terms, its processes, and its ethics From these features, it is clear that the audience for this book is quite diverse. It provides the statistics and mathematics for those interested in statistics and mathematics, but it also provides detours for those who just want a good read and a deeper understanding of elections.
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 104013064X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
Elections are random events. From individuals deciding whether to vote, to individuals deciding who to vote for, to election authorities deciding what to count, the outcomes of competitive democratic elections are rarely known until election day... or beyond. Understanding Elections through Statistics explores this random phenomenon from three primary points of view: predicting the election outcome using opinion polls, testing the election outcome using government-reported data, and exploring election data to better understand the people. Written for those with only a brief introduction to statistics, this book takes you on a statistical journey from how polls are taken to how they can—and should—be used to estimate current popular opinion. Once an understanding of the election process is built, we turn toward testing elections for evidence of unfairness. While holding elections has become the de facto proof of government legitimacy, those electoral processes may hide the dirty little secret of the government, illicitly ensuring a favorable election outcome. This book includes these features designed to make your statistical journey more enjoyable: Vignettes of elections, including maps, starting each chapter to motivate the material In-chapter cues to help one avoid the heavy math—or to focus on it End-of-chapter problems designed to review and extend what was covered in the chapter Many opportunities to turn the power of the R Statistical Environment to the enclosed election data files, as well as to those you find interesting The second edition improves upon this and includes: A rewrite of several chapters to make the underlying concepts more clear A chapter dedicated to confidence intervals, what they mean, and what they do not Additional experiments to help you better understand the statistics of elections A new introduction to polling, its terms, its processes, and its ethics From these features, it is clear that the audience for this book is quite diverse. It provides the statistics and mathematics for those interested in statistics and mathematics, but it also provides detours for those who just want a good read and a deeper understanding of elections.
Computational Psychometrics: New Methodologies for a New Generation of Digital Learning and Assessment
Author: Alina A. von Davier
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030743942
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
This book defines and describes a new discipline, named “computational psychometrics,” from the perspective of new methodologies for handling complex data from digital learning and assessment. The editors and the contributing authors discuss how new technology drastically increases the possibilities for the design and administration of learning and assessment systems, and how doing so significantly increases the variety, velocity, and volume of the resulting data. Then they introduce methods and strategies to address the new challenges, ranging from evidence identification and data modeling to the assessment and prediction of learners’ performance in complex settings, as in collaborative tasks, game/simulation-based tasks, and multimodal learning and assessment tasks. Computational psychometrics has thus been defined as a blend of theory-based psychometrics and data-driven approaches from machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science. All these together provide a better methodological framework for analysing complex data from digital learning and assessments. The term “computational” has been widely adopted by many other areas, as with computational statistics, computational linguistics, and computational economics. In those contexts, “computational” has a meaning similar to the one proposed in this book: a data-driven and algorithm-focused perspective on foundations and theoretical approaches established previously, now extended and, when necessary, reconceived. This interdisciplinarity is already a proven success in many disciplines, from personalized medicine that uses computational statistics to personalized learning that uses, well, computational psychometrics. We expect that this volume will be of interest not just within but beyond the psychometric community. In this volume, experts in psychometrics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science and natural language processing illustrate their work, showing how the interdisciplinary expertise of each researcher blends into a coherent methodological framework to deal with complex data from complex virtual interfaces. In the chapters focusing on methodologies, the authors use real data examples to demonstrate how to implement the new methods in practice. The corresponding programming codes in R and Python have been included as snippets in the book and are also available in fuller form in the GitHub code repository that accompanies the book.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030743942
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
This book defines and describes a new discipline, named “computational psychometrics,” from the perspective of new methodologies for handling complex data from digital learning and assessment. The editors and the contributing authors discuss how new technology drastically increases the possibilities for the design and administration of learning and assessment systems, and how doing so significantly increases the variety, velocity, and volume of the resulting data. Then they introduce methods and strategies to address the new challenges, ranging from evidence identification and data modeling to the assessment and prediction of learners’ performance in complex settings, as in collaborative tasks, game/simulation-based tasks, and multimodal learning and assessment tasks. Computational psychometrics has thus been defined as a blend of theory-based psychometrics and data-driven approaches from machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science. All these together provide a better methodological framework for analysing complex data from digital learning and assessments. The term “computational” has been widely adopted by many other areas, as with computational statistics, computational linguistics, and computational economics. In those contexts, “computational” has a meaning similar to the one proposed in this book: a data-driven and algorithm-focused perspective on foundations and theoretical approaches established previously, now extended and, when necessary, reconceived. This interdisciplinarity is already a proven success in many disciplines, from personalized medicine that uses computational statistics to personalized learning that uses, well, computational psychometrics. We expect that this volume will be of interest not just within but beyond the psychometric community. In this volume, experts in psychometrics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science and natural language processing illustrate their work, showing how the interdisciplinary expertise of each researcher blends into a coherent methodological framework to deal with complex data from complex virtual interfaces. In the chapters focusing on methodologies, the authors use real data examples to demonstrate how to implement the new methods in practice. The corresponding programming codes in R and Python have been included as snippets in the book and are also available in fuller form in the GitHub code repository that accompanies the book.
Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2023 Workshops
Author: Osvaldo Gervasi
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031371178
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 747
Book Description
This nine-volume set LNCS 14104 – 14112 constitutes the refereed workshop proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, ICCSA 2023, held at Athens, Greece, during July 3–6, 2023. The 350 full papers and 29 short papers and 2 PHD showcase papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 876 submissions. These nine-volumes includes the proceedings of the following workshops: Advances in Artificial Intelligence Learning Technologies: Blended Learning, STEM, Computational Thinking and Coding (AAILT 2023); Advanced Processes of Mathematics and Computing Models in Complex Computational Systems (ACMC 2023); Artificial Intelligence supported Medical data examination (AIM 2023); Advanced and Innovative web Apps (AIWA 2023); Assessing Urban Sustainability (ASUS 2023); Advanced Data Science Techniques with applications in Industry and Environmental Sustainability (ATELIERS 2023); Advances in Web Based Learning (AWBL 2023); Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers: Technologies and Applications (BDLTA 2023); Bio and Neuro inspired Computing and Applications (BIONCA 2023); Choices and Actions for Human Scale Cities: Decision Support Systems (CAHSC-DSS 2023); and Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAM 2023).
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031371178
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 747
Book Description
This nine-volume set LNCS 14104 – 14112 constitutes the refereed workshop proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, ICCSA 2023, held at Athens, Greece, during July 3–6, 2023. The 350 full papers and 29 short papers and 2 PHD showcase papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 876 submissions. These nine-volumes includes the proceedings of the following workshops: Advances in Artificial Intelligence Learning Technologies: Blended Learning, STEM, Computational Thinking and Coding (AAILT 2023); Advanced Processes of Mathematics and Computing Models in Complex Computational Systems (ACMC 2023); Artificial Intelligence supported Medical data examination (AIM 2023); Advanced and Innovative web Apps (AIWA 2023); Assessing Urban Sustainability (ASUS 2023); Advanced Data Science Techniques with applications in Industry and Environmental Sustainability (ATELIERS 2023); Advances in Web Based Learning (AWBL 2023); Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers: Technologies and Applications (BDLTA 2023); Bio and Neuro inspired Computing and Applications (BIONCA 2023); Choices and Actions for Human Scale Cities: Decision Support Systems (CAHSC-DSS 2023); and Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAM 2023).
Linguistic Evidence
Author: Stephan Kepser
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110197545
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 590
Book Description
The renaissance of corpus linguistics and promising developments in experimental linguistic techniques in recent years have led to a remarkable revival of interest in issues of the empirical base of linguistic theory in general, and the status of different kinds of linguistic evidence in particular. Consensus is growing (a) that even so-called primary data (from introspection as well as authentic language production) are inherently complex performance data only indirectly reflecting the subject of linguistic theory, (b) that for an appropriate foundation of linguistic theories evidence from different sources such as introspective data, corpus data, data from (psycho-)linguistic experiments, historical and diachronic data, typological data, neurolinguistic data and language learning data are not only welcome but also often necessary. It is in particular by contrasting evidence from different sources with respect to particular research questions that we may gain a deeper understanding of the status and quality of the individual types of linguistic evidence on the one hand, and of their mutual relationship and respective weight on the other. The present volume is a collection of (selected) papers presented at the conference on 'Linguistic Evidence' in Tübingen 2004, which was explicitly devoted to the above issues. All of them address these issues in relation to specific linguistic research problems, thereby helping to establish a better understanding of the nature of linguistic evidence in particularly insightful ways.
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110197545
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 590
Book Description
The renaissance of corpus linguistics and promising developments in experimental linguistic techniques in recent years have led to a remarkable revival of interest in issues of the empirical base of linguistic theory in general, and the status of different kinds of linguistic evidence in particular. Consensus is growing (a) that even so-called primary data (from introspection as well as authentic language production) are inherently complex performance data only indirectly reflecting the subject of linguistic theory, (b) that for an appropriate foundation of linguistic theories evidence from different sources such as introspective data, corpus data, data from (psycho-)linguistic experiments, historical and diachronic data, typological data, neurolinguistic data and language learning data are not only welcome but also often necessary. It is in particular by contrasting evidence from different sources with respect to particular research questions that we may gain a deeper understanding of the status and quality of the individual types of linguistic evidence on the one hand, and of their mutual relationship and respective weight on the other. The present volume is a collection of (selected) papers presented at the conference on 'Linguistic Evidence' in Tübingen 2004, which was explicitly devoted to the above issues. All of them address these issues in relation to specific linguistic research problems, thereby helping to establish a better understanding of the nature of linguistic evidence in particularly insightful ways.