Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has opened new possibilities for designing learning analytics (LA) tools, gaining new insights about student learning processes and their environment, and supporting teachers in assessing and monitoring students. This systematic literature review maps the empirical research of 41 papers utilizing GenAI…

There are over one million school-age children in Missouri, and we estimate 61,000 (6% of all school-age children) are homeschooled. Missouri is one of 29 states that does not require homeschooling to be reported. Using methods that can be replicated elsewhere with publicly available data, we test three approaches to estimating homeschool…

Genre has long been used by Writing Studies ethnographers as a theoretical orientation and analytical tool to bridge text and context. This article describes how genre-based ethnographies as "methodology" might get taken up at the level of "method." Drawing on a genre-based ethnographic study as an example and guide, this…

In the swiftly changing realm of education, technology serves as a key instrument in transforming the methods of teaching, learning experiences, and educational outcomes. Legal and governance issues, integral to maintaining order and justice in societies, are equally pertinent in the realm of education. The digital age introduces concerns like…

This article examines an important and thorny problem in interview research: How to assess whether what people say motivated their actions actually did so? We ask three questions: What specific challenges are at play? How have researchers addressed them? And how should those strategies be evaluated? We argue that such research faces at least five…

Experimental designs in the social sciences have received increasing attention due to their power to produce causal inferences. Nevertheless, experimental research faces limitations, including limited external validity and unrealistic treatments. We propose combining qualitative fieldwork and experimental design iteratively--moving back-and-forth…

This academic article provides the essential steps for designing an effective English questionnaire in social science research, with a focus on ensuring clarity, cultural sensitivity and ethical integrity. Developed from key insights from related studies, it outlines potential practice in questionnaire design, item development and the importance…

The last decade has seen a rise in big data approaches, including in the humanities, whereby large quantities of data are collected and analysed. In this paper, we discuss long-form audio recordings that result from individuals wearing a recording device for many hours. Linguists, psychologists and anthropologists can use them, for example, to…

Developmental scientists are often interested in subgroups of people who share commonalities in aspects of development; these subgroups often cannot be captured directly but instead must be inferred from other information. Mixture models can be used in these situations. Two specific types of mixture models, latent profile transition analyses and…

This article is developed from the contents from one of the chapters the researcher has written as part of her PhD thesis. It discusses various methodological challenges the researcher had to face during the phase of data collection in the prisons of Kerala, India, and the strategies adopted to overcome these challenges. This article is intended…

The Mosaic approach has been used as a form of participatory research for over two decades. It has been popular with researchers in the early childhood education and disability sectors because it encourages the participants to utilise a large range of communication tools, rather than relying on verbal and written data. Promoters of the Mosaic…

To promote inclusivity in quantitative research about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) students, scholars must first understand how sexual orientation data are collected in higher education survey research (Garvey, 2014; Rankin & Garvey, 2015). There is one research question that guides this study: How is sexual orientation demographic…

With today's technology, Extension professionals have a variety of tools available for program evaluation. This article describes an innovative platform called VoiceThread that has been used in many classrooms but also is useful for conducting virtual focus group research. I explain how this tool can be used to collect qualitative participant…

Against the backdrop of the ever-increasing influx of big data, this article examines the opportunities and concerns over big data in education. Specifically, this article first introduces big data, followed by delineating the potential opportunities of using big data in education in two areas: learning analytics and educational policy. Then, the…

This paper presents best practices for conducting survey research using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Readers will learn the benefits, limitations, and trade-offs of using MTurk as compared to other recruitment services, including SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics. A synthesis of survey design guidelines along with a sample survey are presented to help…