Despite increased attention to methodological rigor in education research, the field has focused heavily on experimental design and not on the merit of replicating important results. The present study analyzed the complete publication history of the current top 100 education journals ranked by 5-year impact factor and found that only 0.13% of…

Proposes a mathematical model to explain the observed concentration or diversity of nominal classes in information retrieval systems. The Lorenz Curve is discussed, Information Production Process (IPP) is explained, and a heuristic explanation of circumstances in which the model might be used is offered. (30 references) (LRW)

Investigates the Leimkuhler curve and the Gini index from a probabilistic viewpoint for studying the concentration of bibliometric distributions. The importance of the time parameter and the special nature of the "nonproducers" in bibliometric studies are examined, standard models of bibliometric processes are described, and further…

Illustrates that the Poisson-lognormal model provides good fits to a diverse set of distributions commonly studied in bibliometrics and scientometrics. Topics discussed include applications to the empirical data sets related to the laws of Lotka, Bradford, and Zipf; causal processes that could generate lognormal distributions; and implications for…

Describes a study that was conducted to model the navigation patterns followed by users when retrieving information in hypertext systems. The development of two frequency distribution models is explained, the influence of search tasks on path patterns is discussed, and further research is described. (Contains 17 references.) (LRW)

By employing a concomitant variable, researchers can reduce the error, increase the precision, and maximize the power of an experimental design. Blocking and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) are most often used to harness the power of a concomitant variable. Whether to block or covary and how many blocks to be used if a block design is chosen…

Describes a document retrieval system that provides for user interaction at several search stages to acquire a detailed specification of the user's information need. The use of domain knowledge to refine the query and a browsing mechanism are described in detail, and further research questions are identified. (CLB)

Describes study that compared terminology indexing and citation indexing to determine the similarity of documents retrieved. Information science articles from 1971 to 1983 in three journals were studied for term co-occurrences. The distinction between relevant and pertinent documents is discussed, and further research topics are suggested. (LRW)

Discussion of online bibliographic database searches focuses on a software system, SORT-AID/SABRE, that ranks retrieved citations in terms of relevance. Results of a comprehensive user evaluation of the relevance ranking procedure to determine its effectiveness are presented, and implications for future work are suggested. (10 references) (LRW)

Educational research, unfortunately, often focuses on finding statistical differences between overall means or averages. Media reports of research routinely present those differences and little else. This paper discusses the importance of considering the spread of the data in addition to the center and how this is relevant to research focused on…

This paper examines how various equating methods are affected by: (1) sampling error; (2) sample characteristics; and (3) characteristics of anchor test items. It reviews empirical studies that investigated the invariance of equating transformations, and it discusses empirical and simulation studies that focus on how the properties of anchor tests…