The ultimate goal of the institutional researcher is not always to test a research hypothesis, but more often simply to find an appropriate model to gain an understanding of the underlying characteristics and interrelationships of the data. Exploratory data analysis provides a means of accomplishing this. (Author)

Too few researchers understand what statistical significance testing does and does not do, and consequently their results are misinterpreted. This Digest explains the concept of statistical significance testing and discusses the meaning of probabilities, the concept of statistical significance, arguments against significance testing,…

This paper gives an overview of the methods of moderation, or quality assurance and quality control, as they may be more widely known, that are used to enhance the quality of student assessment. The discussion is based on the educational systems of the United Kingdom but is applicable to assessment in other countries. Quality in assessment is seen…