Mixed methods studies in social sciences are predominantly employed to explore broad, complex, and multifaceted issues and to evaluate policies and interventions. The integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in social sciences most often follows the Peircean pragmatic approach--abductive hypothesis formation followed by deductive and…

In mixed methods approaches, statistical models are used to identify "nested" cases for intensive, small-n investigation for a range of purposes, including notably the examination of causal mechanisms. This article shows that under a commonsense interpretation of causal effects, large-n models allow no reliable conclusions about effect…

Mixed methods, cross-cultural designs are a special case of the more general, mixed methods between-groups designs. The defining feature of mixed methods is the principled integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches, and cross-cultural comparison is premised on the systematic collection and analysis of data from two or more cultural…

Between-subject design surveys are a powerful means of gauging public opinion, but critics rightly charge that closed-ended questions only provide slices of insight into issues that are considerably more complex. Qualitative research enables richer accounts but inevitably includes coder bias and subjective interpretations. To mitigate these…

Whereas the significance and potential impacts of messiness in mixed methods research have been well acknowledged, the literature on mixed methods research has accumulated few examples of engaging and navigating mess. This article provides an account of the nitty-gritty of messiness and its consequences during the process of mixed methods…

The articles in this special issue of the "Journal of Cognition and Development" examine the cognitive development of children who are following typical and atypical developmental pathways. The articles offer a mixture of theory-based considerations, reviews of the literature, and new empirical data addressing fundamental aspects of…

The centrality of education in the pursuit of better economic and social prosperity is now well established. The dominance of human capital theory, which provides a strong argument for better education as a key factor in fuelling economic growth, has encouraged policy makers, in various countries, to focus on education reform as a key priority and…

In this paper, the writer discusses the philosophical underpinnings of the two dominant research methods in social sciences; quantitative and qualitative paradigms. The natures of two paradigms are quite different so this leads many researchers to discuss these issues in a comparative way. This paper tackles the knowledge and understanding of…

WebQuests are activities in which students use Web resources to learn about school topics. WebQuests are advocated as constructivist activities and ones generally well regarded by students. Two experiments were conducted in school settings to compare learning using WebQuests versus conventional instruction. Students and teachers both enjoyed…

Knowledge translation articulates how new scientific insights can be implemented efficiently into clinical practice to reap maximal health benefits. Modern information and communication technologies can be effective tools to help in the collection, processing, and targeted distribution of information from which clinicians, researchers,…

The efficiency of using games presented on the PLATO IV instructional system to provide remedial mathematics training for Basic Electricity/Electronics School trainees was tested. Two learning tasks which provide the most difficulty for students were selected and instructionally programed for the PLATO IV system. Drill and practice routines for…

Prevention and intervention research studies often fail to include an assessment of program integrity, and when they do, it is often examined in a limited way. Further, despite efforts to reform the intervention research process to include community stakeholders more actively in every phase of investigation, current practice generally employs a…

This project was designed to answer the following questions: Is it possible for secondary school office education students to develop an entry level shorthand skill of 90 words per minute with one year of instruction? Is the current dominant system the most effective to use to obtain entry level skill in one year? Is there one system more…

A project was undertaken in San Antonio, Texas, to develop a recruitment approach which would be more effective than the traditional mass media approach in recruiting hard-core undereducated individuals into adult education classes. An experiment was designed to test a recruiting method which would employ a personal, face-to-face interview…

A project compared the use of cognitive style mapping (CSM) in individualized instruction and counseling with current institutional practices in secretarial science and developmental studies. (CSM is defined as a means of assessing each student's preferences in receiving and processing information--for purposes of personalizing and individualizing…