The debate about the characteristics and advantages of quantitative and qualitative methods is decades old. In their seminal monograph, "A Tale of Two Cultures" (2012, ATTC), Gary Goertz and James Mahoney argue that methods and research design practices for causal inference can be distinguished as two cultures that systematically differ…

High-quality systematic literature reviews provide a systematic process for identifying, synthesizing, and critiquing multiple studies and, in turn, inform theory, research, practice, and policy. With a focus on special education systematic reviews, we propose four core principles (i.e., coherence, contextualization, generativity, and…

Scale construction is a common technique in the behavioral and social sciences. There are various techniques researchers use to construct a scale such as the use of focus groups or modifying existing scales. These techniques are not without their challenges. One technique that is not as well discussed in the social science literature is the use of…

Adult basic education (ABE) scholars, practitioners, and policymakers have long debated the purpose and outcomes of federal ABE policy. Although the current policy, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), became law in 2014, there is no comprehensive analysis of the diverging perspectives on WIOA implementation. This integrative…

In this research, it is aimed to analyze technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) studies published in the field of primary school teachers and preservice primary school teachers by using thematic content analysis. In this research, 20 articles and 8 dissertations were analyzed by using thematic content analysis method. Each study was…

A third level of educational research is emerging, in addition to original research and secondary-level reviews. Whereas most third-level research syntheses focus on rather restricted topical areas, this study introduces a comparative and integrative overview of prominent second-order research on teaching, including many different types of reviews…

We analyzed the article types, participants, and topics represented in "Update" articles published between 1989 and 2017 (N = 379), beginning when MENC (now NAfME) took over publication of the journal. Quantitative research articles (46.42%) and literature reviews (28.84%) accounted for the largest portion of articles published. The…

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is a qualitative analytical approach for critically describing, interpreting, and explaining the ways in which discourses construct, maintain, and legitimize social inequalities. CDA rests on the notion that the way we use language is purposeful, regardless of whether discursive choices are conscious or…

This chapter presents an innovative, cross-disciplinary methodological approach to systematically reviewing and comparing large bodies of literature using big data, Natural Language Processing, network analysis, and supplementary qualitative analysis. The approach is demonstrated through an analysis of the literature surrounding four common…

The primary purpose of this book is to offer a broad-based examination into the role of scientific inquiry in contemporary special education. As with the first two editions, which were published in 2001 and 2011, the goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the philosophical, ethical, methodological, and analytical fundamentals of social…

An examination of articles published in leading adult education journals demonstrates that qualitative research dominates. To better understand this situation, a review of journal articles reporting on quantitative research has been undertaken by the author of this article. Differences in methodological strengths and weaknesses between…

The researchers of various disciplines often use qualitative and quantitative research methods and approaches for their studies. Some of these researchers like to be known as qualitative researchers; others like to be regarded as quantitative researchers. The researchers, thus, are sharply polarised; and they involve in a competition of pointing…

Purpose: Participatory extension programmes are widely used to promote change in the agricultural sector, and an important question is how best to measure the effectiveness of such programmes after implementation. This study seeks to understand the current state of practice through a review of ex post evaluations of participatory extension…

Interactive whiteboards are increasing in popularity and prevalence in education. A scoping survey was performed to ascertain the types of documents available from academic databases on the use of interactive whiteboards with school-aged children. More than half of all the identified documents were grey literature: that is, comprised of…

Purpose: Nonexperimental research, defined as any kind of quantitative or qualitative research that is not an experiment, is the predominate kind of research design used in the social sciences. How to unambiguously and correctly present the results of nonexperimental research, however, remains decidedly unclear and possibly detrimental to applied…