College and university fund raisers are encouraged to test various strategies for direct-mail solicitation by comparing variations of five factors that influence direct mail response: copy; timing; package; offer; and list. Suggestions include forming a hypothesis, testing one variable at a time, choosing test and control groups carefully,…

Evaluates an interactive, Web-based tutorial that helps students learn about sampling distribution. 111 students enrolled in statistics or research methods courses used either the tutorial or attended a lecture/demonstration. Indicates through pre- and post-test quizzes both groups learned comparable amounts and reveals students' ratings of both…

Introduces the concepts of online and offline sampling and highlights the role of online sampling in agent-based models of learning and development. Compares the strengths of each approach for modeling particular developmental phenomena and research questions. Describes a recent agent-based model of infant causal perception. Discusses limitations…

The Cognition Rating Form (CRF), a scoring measure for the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank, was evaluated with 56 adolescent psychiatric patients and 102 high school controls. Concurrent validities and sensitivity rates indicated that the CRF shows promise as a thought sampling scoring measure. (SLD)

Examined methodological issues related to the detection and evaluation of behavioral toxicity in infants and children, focusing on the selection of appropriate variables and strategies to control for confounding, sampling strategies and the problem of "overcontrol" for confounding; and the evaluation of dose-response relations and…

People with disabilities often are precluded from research by accessibility problems. This article explores what it really means to make research accessible, and provides suggestions for including people with 2 types of disabilities. Eight specific research activities are explored in relation to 2 disabilities (visual impairments and deafness).

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to develop a reliable and valid family satisfaction instrument for use in Ohio's nursing homes. Design and Methods: Investigators worked with an advisory council to develop the survey. Purposive sampling techniques were largely used to select 12 small, medium, and large for-profit and proprietary facilities…

To provide a better estimate of the prevalence of ADHD in adulthood, the authors complete a telephone survey of 966 randomly selected adults. They compute two diagnoses from the survey data. Participants meeting "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.) criteria for both childhood and adulthood are defined as narrow ADHD.…

Over the past 3 decades we have witnessed an increase in the complexity of theoretical models that attempt to explain development in a number of behavioral domains. The conceptual movement to examine behavior from both developmental and contextual perspectives parallels recent methodological advances in the analysis of change. These new analysis…

The education of farmers would be result oriented if among other things the learning enhancement situations are created. Farmers' receptivity to training largely depends on the use of several educational methods by extension agents to reach farmers in Mezam division of Northwest province of Cameroon. Data were collected from May to August 2000…

The usual formula for variance depending on rounding off the sample mean lacks precision, especially when computer programs are used for the calculation. The well-known simplification of the total sums of squares does not always give benefit. Since the variance of two observations is easily calculated without the use of a sample mean, and the…

Many statistics educators believe that few students develop the level of conceptual understanding essential for them to apply correctly the statistical techniques at their disposal and to interpret their outcomes appropriately. It is also commonly believed that the sampling distribution plays an important role in developing this understanding.…

Monitoring the Future is a long-term program of research being conducted at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Now in its 33rd year, the study is comprised of several ongoing series of annual surveys of nationally…

This paper surveys some current developments in second language vocabulary assessment, with particular attention to the ways in which computer corpora can provide better quality information about the frequency of words and how they are used in specific contexts. The relative merits of different word lists are discussed, including the Academic Word…

Background: The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 examined 8 components of school health programs: health education, physical education and activity, health services, mental health and social services, nutrition services, healthy and safe school environment, faculty and staff health promotion, and family and community…