Sociologists increasingly face choices among competing algorithms that represent reasonable approaches to the same task, with little guidance in choosing among them. We develop a strategy that uses simulated data to identify the conditions under which different methods perform well and applies what is learned from the simulations to predict which…

Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis projects obtain, harmonise, and synthesise original data from multiple studies. Many IPD meta-analyses of randomised trials are initiated to identify treatment effect modifiers at the individual level, thus requiring statistical modelling of interactions between treatment effect and participant-level…

Many experimental designs in educational and behavioral research involve at least one level of clustering. Clustering affects the precision of estimators and its impact on statistics in cross-sectional studies is well known. Clustering also occurs in longitudinal designs where students that are initially grouped may be regrouped in the following…

Factor analysis is a statistical technique that is widely used in psychology and social sciences. Using computers and statistical packages, implementation of multivariate factor analysis and other multivariate methods becomes possible for researchers. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis are applied in different studies;…

Students experience a variety of emotions following achievement outcomes which stand to influence how they learn and perform in academic settings. However, little is known about the link between student outcome emotions and dimensions of performance feedback in computer-based learning environments (CBLEs). Understanding the dynamics of this…

Student login data is a key resource for gaining insight into their learning experience. However, the scale and the complexity of this data necessitate a thorough exploration to identify potential actionable insights, thus rendering it less valuable compared to student achievement data. To compensate for the underestimation of login data…

I discuss three common practices that obfuscate or invalidate the statistical analysis of randomized controlled interventions in applied linguistics. These are (a) checking whether randomization produced groups that are balanced on a number of possibly relevant covariates, (b) using repeated measures ANOVA to analyze pretest-posttest designs, and…

This article contributes to the literature addressing the needs of increasing student enrollment and retention across university campuses by identifying programs where progress can be made to improve the student retention rate and increase university enrollment. This article derives from a provisional program that began in the fall of 2009 at a…

In this article, conceptions of creativity in giftedness and their implications for education are reviewed. First, the definition of giftedness is examined taking into consideration the difference between intellectual giftedness and creative giftedness and the difference between potential and talent. Second, the nature of creativity based on the…

This article provides a large-scale investigation into several of the properties of mixture-model clustering techniques (also referred to as latent class cluster analysis, latent profile analysis, model-based clustering, probabilistic clustering, Bayesian classification, unsupervised learning, and finite mixture models; see Vermunt & Magdison,…

Using a representative longitudinal survey of Texas high school seniors who graduated in 2002, we investigate how college postponement is associated with four-year college expectations and attendance--focusing both on the length of delay and the pathway to the postsecondary system. Like prior studies, we show that family background and student…

This paper considers different ways of making comparisons between individuals in terms of deprivation and/or satisfaction. This allows the Gini index, the Bonferroni index and the De Vergottini index to be interpreted as social deprivation measures as well as social satisfaction measures. The inequality measures that belong to the [beta] family,…

Among the unique affordances of digital simulations are changes in the possibilities for targets as well as the methods of assessment, most significantly, toward integration of thinking with action, embedding of tasks-as-performance of knowledge-in-action, and unobtrusive observational methods. This paper raises and briefly defines key data…

The aim of this research is to study the accurate prediction of comparing test information and evaluation result by multidimensional computerized adaptive scholastic aptitude test program used for grade 9 students under different reviewing test conditions. Grade 9 students of the Secondary Educational Service Area Office in the North-east of…

Parents play an important role in influencing adolescent health behaviors and parenting practices may be an important pathway through which social disadvantage influences adolescent health behaviors that can persist into adulthood. This analysis uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine how parenting practices mediate…