Until now, the conventional approach using two distinct groups, experimental and control, continues to dominate research, especially education research. Researchers, particularly those who are active in this domain, readily recognise this pattern when surveying literature. This article explores the use of the Solomon four-group design as a…

Experimental designs in the social sciences have received increasing attention due to their power to produce causal inferences. Nevertheless, experimental research faces limitations, including limited external validity and unrealistic treatments. We propose combining qualitative fieldwork and experimental design iteratively--moving back-and-forth…

This Workshop on Survey Methods in Education Research tool consists of a facilitator guide and workshop handouts. The toolkit is intended for use by state or district education leaders and others who want to conduct training on developing and administering surveys. The facilitator guide provides materials related to various phases of the survey…

The aim of this case study is to highlight the importance of piloting or pre-testing the research design (in this case, semi-structured interviews and narratives). Most textbooks offer minimal guidance about pre-testing the research design, and published reports rarely report whether the research was piloted and, if so, what were the results.…

This study was designed to assess the impact of a decision-making curriculum (PEER-DM) on the social peer relationship knowledge and self-protective decision-making skills of adolescents with disabilities in hypothetical situations involving negative peer pressure. A randomized design was used to assign students with disabilities from…

The association made between the meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of a word has been shown to help children remember the meanings of words. The present study addressed whether the presence of a target word in Braille during instruction facilitated vocabulary learning more efficiently than an auditory-only instructional condition. The authors…

In 2003, Chicago launched "Double-Dose Algebra," requiring students with pretest scores below the national median to take two periods of math--algebra and supplemental coursework. In many schools, assignment to Double Dose changed the peer composition of the algebra classroom. Using school-specific instrumental variables within a…

Pretest-posttest experimental designs are often used in randomized control trials (RCTs) in the education field to improve the precision of the estimated treatment effects. For logistic reasons, however, pretest data are often collected after random assignment, so that including them in the analysis could bias the posttest impact estimates. Thus,…

This booklet presents techniques used by the Office of Cancer Communications of the National Cancer Institute for pretesting health education materials for professional, patient, and public audiences. The approaches and experiences of other health organizations are also reviewed. Described are principles of pretesting and how pretesting can be…

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of the general linear model (GLM) in problems with repeated measures on a dependent variable. Such problems include pretest-posttest designs, multitrial designs, and groups by trials designs. For each of these designs, a GLM analysis is demonstrated wherein full models are formed and restrictions…

Separate selection and pretesting of students eliminate regression effects in the pre-post achievement gain measured in the RMC Model--A method of program evaluation. (CP)

After offering some possible explanations for the existing inadequacies in evaluating organizational training programs, the authors discuss several evaluation issues, particularly internal validity. Methods for overcoming evaluation inadequacies and the implications for better controlled evaluation designs are also covered. (EM)

The pretest-posttest design referred to as Design 2 by Campbell and Stanley (1963) is commonly used in educational research and evaluation. The tenability of the assumption of a zero population difference commonly used with this design is questioned. A nonzero population estimate based on the mean difference observed in test-retest reliability…

Information on why readership surveys are valuable and on how to conduct them is presented, along with sample surveys used at a number of different institutions, and a questionnaire used by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education to measure the opinion of "CASE CURRENTS," readers. Guidelines for doing a mail survey outline…

The biasing effects of a pretest on subsequent post-test results were investigated in two experimental studies. In general, the results argue for using designs without pretests. (Author/JKS)