Recent usage of virtual reality (VR) technology in surgical training has emerged because of its cost-effectiveness, time savings, and cognition-based feedback generation. However, the quantitative evaluation of its effectiveness in training is still not thoroughly studied. This article demonstrates the effectiveness of a VR-based surgical training…

Most social scientists agree that case studies are useful for "theory building," but ethnographic methods papers often look to survey research for case selection strategies. This is due to a common but untenable distinction between theoretical and empirical generalization, which obscures how theoretically inclined ethnographers make…

Comparative judgment is gaining popularity as an assessment tool, including for high-stakes testing purposes, despite relatively little research on the use of the technique. Advocates claim two main rationales for its use: that comparative judgment is valid because humans are better at comparative than absolute judgment, and because it distils the…

Recent years have witnessed a host of innovations for conducting research with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Concurrently, important issues surrounding its uses have been highlighted. In this article, we seek to help users design QCA studies. We argue that establishing inference with QCA involves three intertwined design components:…

The internal validity of observational study is often subject to debate. In this study, we define the counterfactuals as the unobserved sample and intend to quantify its relationship with the null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST). We propose the probability of a robust inference for internal validity, that is, the PIV, as a robustness index…

The Remote Associates Test (RAT; Mednick, 1962; Mednick & Mednick, 1967) is a commonly employed test of creative convergent thinking. The RAT is scored with a dichotomous scoring, scoring correct answers as 1 and all other answers as 0. Based on recent research into the information processing underlying RAT performance, we argued that the…

The Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) tested a $1 reduction in benefits per $2 earnings increase above the level at which Social Security Disability Insurance benefits drop from full to zero under current law. BOND included a rare and large "population-representative" experiment: It applied the rule to a nationwide, random…

Quasi-experiments are common in studies that estimate the effect of instructional interventions on student performance outcomes. In this type of research, the nature of the experimental design, the choice in assessment, the selection of comparison groups, and the statistical methods used to analyze the comparison data dictate the validity of…

Our article aims to show how illuminating mathematical work as a concept from didactics of mathematics is useful in understanding issues relating to proving and learning of proof, with or without technology. After posing our hypotheses on the relationship of proof with mathematical work, the pedagogical intent of historical elements of geometry…

One approach to validating assessment scores involves evaluating the ability of scores to discriminate among groups who differ in a specific characteristic, such as training status (in education) or disease state (in clinical applications). Such known-groups comparison studies provide validity evidence of "relationships with other…

Calls for replication studies are becoming more frequent, and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has now reached sufficient maturity to offer numerous studies that lend themselves to replication. Realistic and successful replications rely on transparency in terms of data, results, and methodology. Two published studies in the area of…

Sensory over-reactivity may be related to atypical defecation habits in children with constipation. The Toileting Habit Profile Questionnaire-Revised (THPQ-R) is designed to identify defecation-related sensory issues. This study examined the discriminative and concurrent validity of the THPQ-R. Differentiating between children with and without…

There is increased emphasis on using experimental and quasi-experimental methods to evaluate educational programs; however, educational evaluators and school leaders are often faced with challenges when implementing such designs in educational settings. Use of a historical cohort control group design provides a viable option for conducting…

Improving academic, behavioural, and social outcomes of students through empirical research has been a firm commitment among researchers, policy-makers, and other professionals in education across Europe and the United States (U.S.). To assist in building scientific evidences, executive bodies such as the European Commission and the Institute for…

The University of Arkansas Center for Education Reform's report on charter school funding inequities proclaims large and growing inequities between school district and charter school revenues, even after accounting for differences in student needs. But the report displays complete lack of understanding of intergovernmental fiscal relationships,…