Survey research is prevalent among many professional fields. Both cost effective and time efficient, this method of research is commonly used for the purposes of gaining insight into the attitudes, thoughts, and opinions of populations. Additionally, because there are several types of survey research designs and data collection instruments, the…

This study replicates and extends a 2004 content analysis of three major higher education journals. The original study examined the methodological characteristics of all published research in these journals from 1996 to 2000, recommending that higher education programs adjust their graduate training to better match the heavily quantitative and…

Magnet schools are one of the largest sectors of choice schools in the United States. In this study, we explored whether there is heterogeneity in magnet school effects on student achievement by examining the effectiveness of 24 recently funded magnet schools in 5 school districts across 4 states. We used a two-step analysis: First, separate…

This white paper analyzes the potential effects of requiring income-driven repayment for all federal loans as well as relying on paycheck withholding for loan payments, with particular attention to the implications for low-income students and families. The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) also examines the relevance and evolution…

This paper focuses on three main subjects: (1) monitoring quality of life (QoL) in old age; (2) international and interdisciplinary collaboration for QoL research; and (3) computer-based technology and infrastructure assisting (1) and (2). This type of computer-supported cooperative work in the social sciences has been termed eHumanities or…

This paper presents a global approach to the media comparison literature. Beginning with the pros and cons of media research, it discusses the results of both individual and meta-analysis research, compares the different methods researchers have used to determine media selection, and concludes with the most recent trends in media selection. It is…

A number of recommendations are set forth with the purpose of moving toward greater comparability of research results and more efficient accumulation of knowledge. These recommendations include more precise definitions of variables and samples, the inclusion of marker variables, and a review of the literature to plan alignment of new studies with…

Explains chaos theory; compares a conventional instructional systems design (ISD) approach with chaos theory and dynamic nonlinear systems, including deterministic predictability and indeterministic unpredictability and negative and positive feedback; explores theoretical implications for developing an alternative ISD model; and recommends future…

Many studies over the last 20--25 years have examined the benefits of mentoring for the protege and the organization. A review of these studies being published revealed that there is not only a lack of studies utilizing or reporting comparison group information but also a general lack of experimental research about mentoring. This quantitative…

This investigation examines two contrasting evaluations of early childhood education: the Westinghouse-Ohio University study and the Ypsilanti Perry Preschool Project. The Westinghouse study concluded that Head Start experience had very little, if any, academic value for participating children, whereas the Perry Preschool Project concluded that…

Two order theoretic techniques were presented and compared. Ordering theory of Krus and Bart (1974) and an extended Takeya's item relational structure analysis (IRS) by Tatsuoka and Tatsuoka (1981) were used to extract the hierarchical item structure from three datasets. Directed graphs were constructed and both methods were assessed as to how…

Discussion of difficulties in evaluating simulations and games as teaching techniques includes range of claims made for the techniques; variety available; lack of specificity of technique objectives at design stage; limitations of objective-oriented research; inherent difficulties of comparative evaluation against alternative techniques; and…

A framework is presented for use by the Board on International Comparative Studies in Education (BICSE) in advising the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Science Foundation on United States participation in international comparative studies of education. The framework may also be helpful in identifying areas of research…

An exploratory study examined the job and life satisfaction of a sample of 32 female entrepreneurs residing in the tri-state area of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. To compare the entrepreneurs' concepts of life and job satisfaction to those of women in more traditional occupations, researchers also studied a sample of 32 female nursing…

Describes a study that was conducted to establish empirically a set of instructional design project success indicators and to determine whether stakeholder perspective influences the importance attached to those indicators. Seven project success indicators were identified, suggesting that the common evaluation models are incomplete. (Author/LRW)