The GED (General Educational Development) Tests are widely used to certify a high school level of academic knowledge and skills. The popularity and profound influence of the GED Tests have solicited numerous studies on the outcomes of obtaining a GED credential. Most studies on labor market outcomes for GED credential recipients have targeted…

This paper identifies specific problems with stepwise regression, notes criticisms of stepwise methods by statisticians, suggests appropriate ways in which stepwise procedures can be used, and gives examples of how this can be done. Although the stepwise method has been routinely criticized by statisticians, it is still frequently used in the…

This paper reviews the literature on methods for dealing with missing data, discusses four commonly used methods, and illustrates these approaches with a small hypothetical data set. Most studies contain some missing data, and the reasons data are missing are many and varied. Four commonly used methods have been identified in the literature: (1)…

Hierarchical data analyses in different discipline areas are reviewed in this article to compare statistical applications between the Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) software and the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) MIXED procedure. Similar features of the two software programs are illustrated through reconfirmation of an HLM example using the…

Similarities and differences in the univariate and multivariate analysis of repeated measures designs are discussed, using a hypothetical data set studying the effects of practice on the algebra performance of four students to illustrate both methods. When data are analyzed through the univariate approach and the homogeneity assumption is…

Findings of this 20-year longitudinal study support Kohlberg's theoretical predictions of invariant structural consistency of subjects' responses to hypothetical moral dilemmas. Subjects were 58 American males chosen in 1955 according to age, social class and sociometric status. They were 10, 13, or 16 years of age at Time 1. Half of each age…

Bootstrap analysis, both for nonparametric statistical inference and for describing sample results stability and replicability, has been gaining prominence among quantitative researchers in educational and psychological research. Procedurally, however, it is often quite a challenge for quantitative researchers to implement bootstrap analysis in…

In educational effectiveness research, multilevel models are increasingly used because these models take the multilevel structure of the data into account. In this paper, the effect of ignoring one or more levels of variation in hierarchical linear regression is explored, using a model with four hierarchical levels (individual pupil, class group,…

The purpose of this study was to examine doctoral students' preparation in statistics in the field of education. A national survey was conducted focusing on 27 quantitative methods (QM) programs. One QM professor from each program was identified and asked to describe and evaluate the training of QM and non-QM doctoral students at his or her…

As an extension of B. Thompson's 1998 invited address to the American Educational Research Association, this paper cites two additional common faux pas in research methodology and explores some research issues for the future. These two errors in methodology are the use of univariate analyses in the presence of multiple outcome variables (with the…

This study explored the potential of meta-analysis for assessing the efficacy of interventions designed for parents of young, environmentally at-risk children. Included in the sample were 232 evaluations of 282 parent-focused interventions implemented between 1965 and 1999; evaluations met 10 criteria, including the inclusion of a treatment and…

If an effective school is defined as a school that causes student improvement on a number of important educational outcomes, the problem of identifying effective schools becomes one of establishing legitimate predictions of student performance and comparing those predictions to actual student or school outcomes. In attempting to identify effective…

This paper acknowledges that research on school dropouts presents problems in the definitions and computation of dropout indices. It considers a variety of methods for computing dropout rates, using dropout rates which are real and which were available at the end of the 1986-1987 school year. Fall enrollment, average daily membership, and total…

This study was conducted to evaluate whether a brief self-description checklist may provide a viable method of quickly obtaining initial personality type information. The Personal Preferences Self-Description Questionnaire (PPSDQ) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were administered to 420 college students, and PPSDQ item-response and MBTI…

A study was conducted using the parity-equity model to investigate variances in faculty salaries at North Dakota State School for Science. The parity-equity model specifies three constructs as determinants of faculty salaries: (1) rational equity factors, including years of professional experience, rank, degree, graduate faculty status, tenure…