This article is part of a special LDRP research-to-practice series introducing key concepts to enable special education practitioners and other nonresearchers to be more informed research consumers. In the article, we explore how social validity is assessed in special education research and how to interpret social validity assessments. Rather than…

Preregistration involves researchers publicly registering key study elements before conducting a study to increase the transparency of research and limit the use and impact of questionable research practices. To support special education researchers' engagement with preregistrations, in this article we provide an overview of preregistration and…

Open-science reforms, which aim to increase credibility and access of research, have the potential to benefit the research base in special education, as well as practice and policy informed by that research base. Awareness of open science is increasing among special education researchers. However, relatively few researchers in the field have…

Mixed-methods research can uniquely inform special education practice by combining qualitative and quantitative research approaches. However, its distinct features can also make mixed-methods research difficult to understand and apply. In this article, we provide an introduction to mixed-methods research purposes, designs, and quality…

Qualitative research methods are used within special education research to provide insights about how and why phenomena occur. They can, however, be misunderstood and applied inappropriately. Our aim in this article is to provide an overview of qualitative methods, including their purpose, contributions to research involving students with learning…

Scientific research provides a reliable means for developing and accumulating knowledge bases to guide policy and practice. However, evidence from meta-research and large-scale replication projects suggests that the published research base likely reflects bias, which threatens the validity and credibility of research-based recommendations.…

Open-access (OA) options, including preprints and postprints, provide free access to research, accelerate the dissemination of academic work, are associated with increased impact of scholarly work, and may aid in dissemination of null results. However, OA publishing is not an established practice for many special education researchers, and journal…

Single-case research methods provide the basis for evaluating effective instructional approaches in special education. The purpose of this article is to provide special educators an overview of single-case research methods, with an emphasis on how these designs are used to establish whether an instructional practice relates to improved learner…

Evidence-based reviews are a type of systematic literature review used to identify evidence-based practices. When conducting an evidence-based review, researchers apply predetermined standards to identify evidence-based practices--practices that have been shown to reliably improve an outcome for a population of learners, according to evidence from…

"p" values are commonly reported in quantitative research, but are often misunderstood and misinterpreted by research consumers. Our aim in this article is to provide special educators with guidance for appropriately interpreting "p" values, with the broader goal of improving research consumers' understanding and interpretation…

This qualitative case study explored how three expert secondary special education teachers in Hawaii successfully negotiated their job demands. Purposeful sampling was used to select one secondary school on the Leeward coast of Oahu. We used reputational-case sampling to select participants that fit Dreyfus and Dreyfus' (1980) expert theoretical…

Scientific evidence should guide the selection of practice for individuals with disabilities. Scientific evidence, however, must be trustworthy to move special education toward greater empirical certainty and more effective policies and practices. Transparency, openness, and reproducibility increase the trustworthiness of evidence. We propose that…

Publication bias involves the disproportionate representation of studies with large and significant effects in the published research. Among other problems, publication bias results in inflated omnibus effect sizes in meta-analyses, giving the impression that interventions have stronger effects than they actually do. Although evidence suggests…

The aim of this article is to provide practitioners and other nonresearchers a basic understanding of research designs to aid in appropriately interpreting and applying research findings in special education. Research design provides the blueprint for conducting a research study and shapes what kind of knowledge is generated by the study. We…

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…