Describes and evaluates a learning model for information filtering and selective dissemination of information which is an adaptation of the generalized probabilistic model of information retrieval. The model is based on the concept of uncertainty sampling that allows for relevance feedback both on relevant and nonrelevant documents. (Author/LRW)

This paper recommends use of analysis of covariance in early intervention research to account for pretreatment group differences and increase statistical power. Diagrams show how analysis of covariance manipulates data under various conditions. Simulated data analysis demonstrates the process of selecting covariates and shows the results with and…

Applying 2 different models of test construction to test results for a pool of more than 190,000 high school students found no systematic bias against groups with smaller or no representation in the test standardization sample. These results support the integrity of widely used sampling and item selection procedures. (SLD)

Provides details on the instrument development, sample design, data collection, and data analysis procedures of the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend and main assessments for the United States. (Author/SLD)

Institutional researchers frequently use national datasets such as those provided by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The authors of this chapter explore the adjustments required when analyzing NCES data collected using complex sample designs. (Contains 8 tables.)

Because surveys now can be implemented with relative ease and little cost, many researchers are overlooking the basic principles of survey research. This chapter discusses sources of error that researchers should consider when conducting a survey, and gives readers basic suggestions for reducing error. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Academics are reported to be working longer hours and have less time for research because of increasing administrative and teaching demands. The traditional pattern of the academic enterprise appears to have changed. To explore whether this is indeed the case, the Experience Sampling Method [ESM], a research technique devised by Mihaly…

Historically, African Americans have resisted participation in clinical trials and other research projects because of distrust of the mostly white research establishment. Although there are legitimate reasons for refusing to join clinical trials, most notably the abuses of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, African Americans may be passing up…

Schools offer a convenient setting for research on adolescents. However, obtaining active written parental consent is difficult. In a 6th-grade smoking study, students were recruited with two consent procedures: active consent (parents must provide written consent for their children to participate) and implied consent (children may participate…

Contrary to societal stereotypes about adoption, this integrative review of published empirical research on adoptive families noted several positive and few negative out-comes with regard to satisfaction with the adoption, familial functioning, and parent-child communication. The critical analysis of 38 studies on adoptive families revealed a…

Purpose: The authors describe the procedures used to explain an unexpected finding that adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) had a lower mean length of utterance (MLU) than typically developing (TD) children in interviews without picture support, but not in narratives supported by wordless picture books. They hypothesize that the picture support of…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to document the prevalence of sampling designs utilised in mixed-methods research and to examine the interpretive consistency between interpretations made in mixed-methods studies and the sampling design used. Classification of studies was based on a two-dimensional mixed-methods sampling model. This…

The National Science Concept Learning Study represented one of the largest and the most extensive surveys of its kind undertaken in Taiwan in recent years. A total of 36,093 students from the sixth, eighth, ninth, and eleventh grades participated in the main study. This paper provides the background information about the sampling and booklet…

This paper reports a causal-comparative study of science anxiety among Form Four students in Penang. The Wynstra's (1991) Science Anxiety Inventory (SAI), which consists of six factors (i.e., danger anxiety, science test anxiety, math and problem-solving anxiety, squeamish anxiety, performance anxiety, and science classroom anxiety), was…

There is much research that documents what many teachers know, that students struggle with many concepts in probability and statistics. This article presents two sample activities the authors use to help preservice teachers develop ideas about how they can use technology to promote their students' ability to understand mathematics and connect…