Systematic reviews (SRs) have an important role in the healthcare decision-making practice. Assessing the overall confidence in the results of SRs using quality assessment tools, such as "A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2" (AMSTAR 2), is crucial since not all SRs are conducted using the most rigorous methods. In this…

Each of 35 empirical studies in the organizational development field were analyzed according to research design, data collection procedures, subject characteristics, treatment dimensions, and data analysis approaches. Overall research methodology was spotty although research design was relatively strong. Available from: Journal of Applied…

This report documents a methodological study conducted for the National Science Foundation to investigate the effects of different media environments on relationships between local television news viewing and local knowledge. The study serves two purposes: it establishes tne reliability of data collected in an investigation by Rand of the effects…

Examines the long-term retention of library-use skills through the utilization of various research techniques and discusses the appropriateness of quantitative and qualitative research methodology. Conclusions indicate that long-term possession of skills is more highly related to library-use instruction than inherent ability or academic diligence.…

A modified form of the Delphi Technique was used with the School of Education at the University of Northern Colorado to formulate a definition of effective college teaching. (Authors)

Identifies problems with recidivism as an evaluation measure in correctional education. Addresses recidivism as a moral issue. Describes procedures to improve the effectiveness of recidivism studies. (JOW)

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,…

Describes experiment which compared two techniques used for evaluating and comparing database coverage of a subject area, e.g., "bibliography" and "subject profile." Differences in time, cost, and results achieved are compared by applying techniques to field of volcanology using two databases, Geological Reference File and GeoArchive. Twenty…

Describes an unobtrusive study of the ability of professional librarians to deal with factual questions that was conducted at Illinois State University. Evaluation of the accuracy of responses is discussed, the responsiveness and helpfulness of librarians is examined, attitude scores are described, and implications for improving reference service…

For this evaluation of a multicultural education unit, Staged Innovation Design, which allows for experimental group posttest scores to be compared to control-replication group pretest and posttest scores to ascertain instructional effectiveness, was modified by adding a simultaneous pretest for both groups to control for threats to internal…

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions of teacher competence within and among three groups of educators as measured by the interview scales of the Instrument for the Observation of Teaching Activities (IOTA). (Auhor)

Using random selection of citations from journal articles, two specific permutations of the citation checking approach to university library collection evaluation are tested on political science collections in five university libraries in the Washington, D.C. area. The history of the citation checking approach is reviewed. Forty-three references…

Various methods for calculating and presenting results of information retrieval (IR) evaluation research are discussed, with illustrations from recent laboratory results. Highlights include measures for calculating recall and precision, user needs for high or low level of recall, and comparisons of Boolean and ranked output retrieval. (22…

Reviews meaning and theory of library collections and structure and enumerates ways that data on collections can be organized to reveal underlying global structure (links and connections between collections, parts of collections, and users of collections). Definitions of terms applying to eight models described in text are appended. (53…

THE TOPICS OF EIGHT CONFERENCE PAPERS INCLUDE (1) THE PROBLEM OF DIFFERENTIATING EFFECTS OF SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION FROM EFFECTS OF OTHER INFLUENCES (GROWTH, ENVIRONMENT, AND SELF-INSTRUCTION), (2) CRITERIA FOR MEASURING CHANGE IN PROFICIENCY, AND (3) WAYS OF RELATING SUCH CHANGE TO OUTSIDE VARIABLES SUCH AS MEASURABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNERS AND…