En called inter-rater reliability, for identification of stuttered and non-stuttered disfluencies as well as fluent words in children’s speech, the frequency of both was recalculated for 32 children (i.e., 18 CWS and 14 CWNS). Four examiners independently re-evaluated the purchase SKF-96365 (hydrochloride) speech samples by taking a disfluency count in real time while watching a video recording of the previously conducted speech assessment. The samples for re-evaluation were selected at random from each group of preschool-age participants (CWS and CWNS). Reliability of measurement between the original and recalculated data was assessed by calculating intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC; McGraw Wong, 1996; Shrout Pamapimod manufacturer Fleiss, 1979). Inter-judge reliability ranged from (a) .95 to .97 (M = .96), with average ICC measures of . 989, p < .001, for identification of stuttered disfluencies; (b) .82 to .89 (M = .86), with average measures of .95, p < .001, for identification of non-stuttered disfluencies; and (c) .94 to .97 (M = .96), with average measures of .98, p < .001, for identification of total disfluencies. The above ICC reliability values exceed the popular criterion of .7 (Yoder Symons, 2010).J Commun Disord. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 May 01.Tumanova et al.PageTo assess intra-judge reliability, each of the four examiners re-evaluated disfluency counts of 11 children (M = 6 CWS; M = 5 CWNS) they had previously completed. Both the interjudge and intra-judge reliability disfluency counts were taken in real time while watching the video recording of the child-clinician conversation. The time between the first and the second count was at least 3 months. ICCs ranged from .95 to .99 (M = .97) for identification of SD, from .8 to .96 (M = .93) for identification of NSD, and from .97 to .98 (M = .97) for identification of TD. 2.7. Data analysis To test for the normality of the distribution of speech disfluencies, the present authors used a Shapiro ilk test of normality (Shapiro Wilk, 1965) and inspected distributions with histograms. A histogram for each dependent variable (i.e., total, stuttered, and non-stuttered disfluencies) was plotted, and descriptive statistics were calculated (mean, standard deviation, variance, skewness and kurtosis). To assess between-group differences (i.e., CWS vs. CWNS) for frequency of stuttered and non-stuttered disfluencies, a generalized linear regression model (Nelder Wedderburn, 1972) was estimated. This model was chosen because it allows for analysis of data that do not fit a normal distribution. "Generalized" means that various distributions can be chosen, such as binary, Poisson, or negative binomial if the distribution of a dependent variable is not normal. "Negative binomial" refers to a Poisson regression with overdispersion (e.g., a long right-hand tail) and is often used because many counts of events may be more dispersed than the traditional Poisson (Gardner, Mulvey, Shaw, 1995). Generalized models are provided in various commonly used software packages (e.g., SPSS, SAS, Stata, R) with a statistical basis for such models given in many sources, such as the Hardin and Hilbe (2003) monograph. To assess whether participants' age, gender and speech-language abilities influenced the frequency of their speech disfluencies, these categorical or continuous independent variables were entered as covariates in the generalized regression model for each dependent variable. Software employed was SPSS-19 "Generalized Linea.En called inter-rater reliability, for identification of stuttered and non-stuttered disfluencies as well as fluent words in children's speech, the frequency of both was recalculated for 32 children (i.e., 18 CWS and 14 CWNS). Four examiners independently re-evaluated the speech samples by taking a disfluency count in real time while watching a video recording of the previously conducted speech assessment. The samples for re-evaluation were selected at random from each group of preschool-age participants (CWS and CWNS). Reliability of measurement between the original and recalculated data was assessed by calculating intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC; McGraw Wong, 1996; Shrout Fleiss, 1979). Inter-judge reliability ranged from (a) .95 to .97 (M = .96), with average ICC measures of . 989, p < .001, for identification of stuttered disfluencies; (b) .82 to .89 (M = .86), with average measures of .95, p < .001, for identification of non-stuttered disfluencies; and (c) .94 to .97 (M = .96), with average measures of .98, p < .001, for identification of total disfluencies. The above ICC reliability values exceed the popular criterion of .7 (Yoder Symons, 2010).J Commun Disord. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 May 01.Tumanova et al.PageTo assess intra-judge reliability, each of the four examiners re-evaluated disfluency counts of 11 children (M = 6 CWS; M = 5 CWNS) they had previously completed. Both the interjudge and intra-judge reliability disfluency counts were taken in real time while watching the video recording of the child-clinician conversation. The time between the first and the second count was at least 3 months. ICCs ranged from .95 to .99 (M = .97) for identification of SD, from .8 to .96 (M = .93) for identification of NSD, and from .97 to .98 (M = .97) for identification of TD. 2.7. Data analysis To test for the normality of the distribution of speech disfluencies, the present authors used a Shapiro ilk test of normality (Shapiro Wilk, 1965) and inspected distributions with histograms. A histogram for each dependent variable (i.e., total, stuttered, and non-stuttered disfluencies) was plotted, and descriptive statistics were calculated (mean, standard deviation, variance, skewness and kurtosis). To assess between-group differences (i.e., CWS vs. CWNS) for frequency of stuttered and non-stuttered disfluencies, a generalized linear regression model (Nelder Wedderburn, 1972) was estimated. This model was chosen because it allows for analysis of data that do not fit a normal distribution. "Generalized" means that various distributions can be chosen, such as binary, Poisson, or negative binomial if the distribution of a dependent variable is not normal. "Negative binomial" refers to a Poisson regression with overdispersion (e.g., a long right-hand tail) and is often used because many counts of events may be more dispersed than the traditional Poisson (Gardner, Mulvey, Shaw, 1995). Generalized models are provided in various commonly used software packages (e.g., SPSS, SAS, Stata, R) with a statistical basis for such models given in many sources, such as the Hardin and Hilbe (2003) monograph. To assess whether participants' age, gender and speech-language abilities influenced the frequency of their speech disfluencies, these categorical or continuous independent variables were entered as covariates in the generalized regression model for each dependent variable. Software employed was SPSS-19 "Generalized Linea.