Change Scores in Physical Education and Exercise Science: Revisiting the Hale and Hale Method

• Published in: Measurement in physical education and exercise science Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 181 - 193
• Main Authors: Kane, Michael, Lazarus, Jo-Anne C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01.09.1999
• ISSN: 1091-367X; 1532-7841
• DOI: 10.1207/s15327841mpee0303_4

Hale and Hale (1972) proposed an exponential model to deal with the tendency of change scores to be negatively correlated with initial scores. The Hale and Hale method is quite complicated and requires specification of a maximum score, which is fairly arbitrary in many cases. The model developed in this article assumes that the rate of change is inversely related to the difference between current performance and best possible performance, and therefore starts from assumptions that are similar to those of Hale and Hale. The new model implies an exponential relationship between change scores and time, but the relationship between change scores and initial score is shown to be linear, even though the underlying model is exponential. Thus, simple linear regression provides an effective basis for analysis. Applications of this model are therefore potentially much simpler than the Hale and Hale model. As an example, the model is applied to children's data on motor learning over repeated trials.