This paper examines and builds on an earlier contribution to this journal focusing on private supplementary tutoring -- widely known as shadow education -- in Francophone West and Central Africa. Drawing on wider literature about research methods in this domain, it examines the basis for the numerical estimates presented in the original article…

In this commentary, Mijke Rhemtulla, Riet van Bork, and Denny Borsboom write that they were delighted to see Bainter and Bollen's paper as a focus article in "Measurement." In their view, psychological researchers who use SEM rely too reflexively on reflective measurement, without sufficiently considering whether their indicators are…

In recent years, research on teaching and learning of statistics emphasized that the interpretation of data is a complex process that involves cognitive and technical aspects. However, it is a human activity that involves also contextual and affective aspects. This view is in line with research on affectivity and cognition. While the affective…

The research reports how a particular school reform initiative--'Project 600'--constituted students in one school region Queensland, Australia. Drawing upon topological understandings of power and recent work on the visualisation of data in education, as well as the insights of key staff involved in the project, we reveal the complex and…

This article is a commentary on the Focus Article, "Interpretational Confounding or Confounded Interpretations of Causal Indicators?" and a commentary that was published in issue 12(4) 2014 of "Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research & Perspectives". The authors challenge two claims: (a) Bainter and Bollen argue that the…

We discuss the learning goals, content, and delivery of a University of Plymouth intensive module delivered over four weeks entitled MATH1608PP Understanding Big Data from Social Networks, aimed at introducing students to a broad range of techniques used in modern Data Science. This module made use of R, accessed through RStudio, and some popular…

Descripting Statistics provides methodology and tools for user-friendly presentation of random data. Among the summary measures that describe focal tendencies in random data, the mode is given the least amount of attention and it is frequently misinterpreted in many introductory textbooks on statistics. The purpose of the paper is to provide a…

The learning sequence described in this article was developed to provide students with a demonstration of the development of box plots from authentic data as an illustration of the advantages gained from using multiple forms of data representation. The sequence follows an authentic process that starts with a problem to which data representations…

Information on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa is often interpreted through a veil of secrecy and shame and, I argue, with flawed understanding of basic statistics. This research determined the levels of statistical literacy evident in 316 future Mathematical Literacy teachers' explanations of the median in the context of HIV/AIDS…

Current educational reform calls for increased integration between science and mathematics to overcome the shortcomings in students' quantitative skills. Data Nuggets (free online resource, http://datanuggets.org) are worksheets that bring data into the classroom, repeatedly guiding students through the scientific method and making claims…

Youth with disabilities are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system and tend to be repeat offenders. Current intervention strategies have produced differential effects between those with and without disabilities. Yet, little research has been done to examine the differences between these two populations regarding risks for and patterns of…

Durkheim's nineteenth-century analysis of national suicide rates dismissed prior concerns about mortality data fidelity. Over the intervening century, however, evidence documenting various types of error in suicide data has only mounted, and surprising levels of such error continue to be routinely uncovered. Yet the annual suicide rate remains the…

Allegations and assumptions of fiscal mismanagement at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have existed since their founding and continue today. There is little evidence that these claims, fueled by the media, legislatures, and often accrediting agencies, are actually truer than fiscal mismanagement at predominantly White…

This study reports findings from an analysis of employment allegations and resolutions maintained in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) database. Spanning the years 1992 to 2005, the data were aggregated for individuals with psychiatric disabilities and individuals with a variety of physical, sensory, and neurological…

The increasing availability of massive volumes of scientific data requires new synthetic analysis techniques to explore and identify interesting patterns that are otherwise not apparent. For biodiversity studies, a "data-driven" approach is necessary because of the complexity of ecological systems, particularly when viewed at large spatial and…