Intended to guide scholars who are new to qualitative research, this methods brief focuses mostly on what reviewers look for in manuscripts submitted for publication. The author acknowledges that reviewers' preferences likely reflect their theoretical perspectives, research-oriented coursework, mentors, and research and writing experiences. The…

Structured talent identification and development, it has been argued, is one of the foundations of international sporting success and many modern elite sport systems have applied normative talent development (TD) models. The success of Norwegian handball, however, is based on an alternative approach to TD. Norwegian handball is characterized by a…

The Academic Pathway Study (APS) research program within National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE) ran from 2003-2010. It amassed a collection of longitudinal as well as cross-sectional data sets, of varying research method types and formats, from four different primary cohorts that included over…

Population-based outcome monitoring could provide useful information about factors that differentially influence the developmental trajectories of deaf or hard-of-hearing children. A strong basis for population-based outcome monitoring is a coordinated, longitudinal data collection, and management infrastructure that includes quality local…

This article examines Brantlinger and colleagues' longitudinal case study "Fighting for Darla; Challenges for family care and professional responsibility" [Brantlinger, E.A., S.M. Klein, and S.L. Guskin. 1994. "Fighting for Darla; Challenges for family care and professional responsibility." New York: Teachers College…

Missing data is endemic in much educational research. However, practices such as step-wise regression common in the educational research literature have been shown to be dangerous when significant data are missing, and multiple imputation (MI) is generally recommended by statisticians. In this paper, we provide a review of these advances and their…

This research focuses on ePortfolio assessment strategies that yield important accountability and reporting information. Under foundational categories of reliability, validity, and fairness, we present methods of gathering evidence from ePortfolio scores and their relationship to demographic information (gender, race/ethnicity, and socio-economic…

Some universities administer standardized tests to estimate school effects on student learning. To that end, many of those institutions choose to gather cross-sectional data (freshmen and seniors in the same academic year) rather than longitudinal data. The effects of this decision on institutional assessment results are generally unknown. The…

Over the past two decades there have been major developments in deaf education in many countries. Medical and technical advances have made it possible for more deaf children to hear and speak successfully. Most deaf pupils learn in ordinary classes in mainstream schools. In this article we explore patterns of achievements of deaf pupils to see if…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the educational pathways of a group of children with and without special educational needs from the last year in preschool to 1st grade. Fifty-six children participated and 65 educational settings were visited. A longitudinal and mixed method approach was adopted. Data was collected via observations,…

This case study examined the implementation of a major research endeavor in an institution of higher education, Trinity College, Dublin, in Ireland, with particular focus on the change process during the initiation of the project and the subsequent needs assessment and implementation of technological solutions. This study identified the stages,…

The growth in the availability of longitudinal data--data collected over time on the same individuals--as part of program evaluations has opened up exciting possibilities for evaluators to ask more nuanced questions about how individuals' outcomes change over time. However, in order to leverage longitudinal data to glean these important insights,…

This paper focuses on young foreign language learners' attitudes and motivations. An overview is given of the main issues in this research area, based on key European studies. Approaches to studying these affective learner characteristics are described. Some attention is devoted to data elicitation techniques and the importance of triangulation.…

To do research that really makes a difference--the authors of this book argue--social scientists need questions and methods that reflect the complexity of the world. Bringing together a consortium of voices across a variety of fields, "Methods that Matter" offers compelling and successful examples of mixed methods research that do just…

Over the last decade, New York City (NYC) has been the site of a systemwide high school reform effort that is unprecedented in its scope and pace. Since 2002, the school district has closed more than 20 failing high schools, opened more than 200 new secondary schools, and implemented a centralized high school admission process in which…