This guide offers a comprehensive handbook to scientific research methodology and experimental design, specifically for novice MA and PhD researchers in Education and Language Learning (TESOL/TEFL). It establishes scientific research as a systematic, objective inquiry focused on identifying cause-and-effect relationships through empirical data.…

Mediation is usually assessed by a regression-based or structural equation modeling (SEM) approach that we refer to as the classical approach. This approach relies on the assumption that there are no confounders that influence both the mediator, "M", and the outcome, "Y". This assumption holds if individuals are randomly…

In Shadish (2010) and West and Thoemmes (2010), the authors contrasted 2 approaches to causality. The first originated in the psychology literature and is associated with work by Campbell (e.g., Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002), and the second has its roots in the statistics literature and is associated with work by Rubin (e.g., Rubin, 2006). In…

This report summarizes the complex research literature on quantitative methods for assessing how impacts of educational interventions on instructional practices and student learning differ across students, educators, and schools. It also provides technical guidance about the use and interpretation of these methods. The research topics addressed…

Researchers using structural equation modeling (SEM) aspire to learn about the world by seeking models with causal specifications that match the causal forces extant in the world. This quest for a model matching existing worldly causal forces constitutes an ontology that orients, or perhaps reorients, thinking about measurement validity. This…

In this essay, the author tries to look forward into the 21st century to divine three things: (i) What skills will researchers in the future need to solve the most pressing problems? (ii) What are some of the most likely candidates to be those problems? and (iii) What are some current areas of research that seem mined out and should not distract…

Causal reasoning represents one of the most basic and important cognitive processes that underpin all higher-order activities, such as conceptual understanding and problem solving. Hume called causality the "cement of the universe" [Hume (1739/2000). Causal reasoning is required for making predictions, drawing implications and…

This paper reports on the current progress of the CHATA Project (Concepts of History and Teaching Approaches, 7 to 14), funded by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) as part of its program, "Innovation and Change: The Quality of Teaching and Learning." The project is set in the context of changes within history…

Uses five unusual indifference curve exercises to show how changing the jail sentence and changing the reward for good behavior can influence the crime rate. Recommends eliminating minimum sentencing while raising sentencing and increasing the rewards for good behavior. Includes illustrative graphs for each exercise. (MJP)

This paper contains a consideration of the nature and role of warrants for research conclusions in educational research. The paper argues the need for an explicit warrant in the form of a logical and persuasive link between the evidence produced and the conclusions drawn (with appropriate qualifications and caveats). It describes social scientific…

Examines two classes of production functions in which the long-run competitive equilibrium scale of the firm increases when the relative price of the dominant factor decreases. Compares these with a third class of production functions where the equilibrium scale is independent of the relative price of the dominant factor. (MJP)

Contends that recent developments in historical sociology emphasize the centrality of temporality to analysis and explanation. Illustrates how computer-assisted analysis of qualitative narrative can be used to develop generalizable causal interpretation of events. (CFR)

Examines how people with a high-achievement need attribute success to their ability and effort and failure to external factors such as task difficulty. Contrasts this behavior with people who have a low-achievement need. The measuring device was a multiple-choice questionnaire designed to reveal participant tendencies. (MJP)

Provides a brief overview of single-subject research designs. This method exercises its power by examining changes in single subjects' responses over time across experimental conditions. Describes a classroom project in which students collect repeated measures of their own behavior and graph the data. (MJP)

Describes a teaching activity that improves students' scientific reasoning by focusing attention on the causal, explanatory nature of psychological theories. Students learn and use an argument form called Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE). Includes examples of this technique and student responses to the course. (MJP)