Randomized experiments involving education interventions are typically implemented as cluster randomized trials, with schools serving as clusters. To design such a study, it is critical to understand the degree to which learning outcomes vary between versus within clusters (schools), specifically the intraclass correlation coefficient. It is also…

Background: Counts are familiar outcomes in education research settings, including those involving tests of interventions. Clustered data commonly occur in education research studies, given that data are often collected from students within classrooms or schools. There is a wide array of distributions and models that can be used for clustered…

Researchers designing multisite and cluster randomized trials of educational interventions will usually conduct a power analysis in the planning stage of the study. To conduct the power analysis, researchers often use estimates of intracluster correlation coefficients and effect sizes derived from an analysis of survey data. When there is…

Nonnormality of univariate data has been extensively examined previously (Blanca et al., 2013; Micceri, 1989). However, less is known of the potential nonnormality of multivariate data although multivariate analysis is commonly used in psychological and educational research. Using univariate and multivariate skewness and kurtosis as measures of…

This review introduces classical item response theory (IRT) models as well as more contemporary extensions to the case of multilevel, multidimensional, and mixtures of discrete and continuous latent variables through the lens of discrete multivariate analysis. A general modeling framework is discussed, and the applications of this framework in…

Missing data is endemic in much educational research. However, practices such as step-wise regression common in the educational research literature have been shown to be dangerous when significant data are missing, and multiple imputation (MI) is generally recommended by statisticians. In this paper, we provide a review of these advances and their…

Higher education research is a multidisciplinary field, engaging researchers from across the academy who make use of a wide range of methodological approaches. This article examines the relation between discipline and methodology in higher education research, analysing a database of 567 articles published in 15 leading higher education journals…

While there has been systematic and on-going research into e-learning in universities for over two decades, there has been comparatively less evidence-based research into how key aspects of e-learning are internally constituted from a student perspective and how these aspects might be related to university students' learning experiences. The…

The census survey of undergraduates attending a major research university system presents an opportunity to measure both disciplinary and institutional differences in students' academic experience. Results from nearly 60,000 responses (38% response rate) from the 2006 administration found greater variance among majors within an institution than…

The research study examined the relationship between pre-kindergarten teachers' age and years of experience with their perceptions and their actual compliance with the norms of the High/Scope Pre-kindergarten Program. Teachers' perceptions of satisfaction with the supervisory relationship were measured by the Early Childhood Job Satisfaction…

A framework for understanding methodological practices from the perspectives of internal validity, external validity, statistical control validity, and construct validity is presented. One hundred doctoral dissertations completed between 1980 and 1988 at a single urban public university were analyzed for various methodological practices and types…

Reports on a study investigating perceptions of K-12 teachers, educational technology faculty, and educational technology graduate students about instructional design, cooperative learning, learner control, school reform, computers and media, and implementation of a key practice in each area of their teaching. (49 references) (KRN)