Mediation and moderation are two theories for refining and understanding a causal relationship. Empirical investigation of mediators and moderators requires an integrated research design rather than the data analyses driven approach often seen in the literature. This paper described the conceptual foundation, research design, data analysis, as…

This essay argues for the value of an ecological metaphor in conceptualizing, designing, and enacting research in writing studies. Such a metaphor conceives of activities, actors, situations, and phenomena as interdependent, diverse, and fused through feedback. This ecological orientation invites composition scholars to research rhetorically: to…

Background: Recruiting schools into a matched-pair randomized control trial (MP-RCT) to evaluate the efficacy of a school-level prevention program presents challenges for researchers. We considered which of 2 procedures would be most effective for recruiting schools into the study and assigning them to conditions. In 1 procedure (recruit and…

Purpose: With the change in global and local markets and the emergence of new types of careers such as protean careers (which are values-driven), individual values (i.e. citizenship behaviors, altruistic standards, and helping activities) seem to have a growing effect on decisions people make about significant choices in their lives such as the…

Background: Performance evaluation in the context of creative dance or expressive movement is often a challenging prospect for educators. Nonetheless, the process is a necessary one, not least of all because of the potential as a stimulus to growth. Ideally, assessment becomes a part of the feedback process, assisting teachers and students to…

One confronts many difficulties when conducting policy-relevant criminal justice research that focuses on American Indian interests. Foremost among these difficulties is the great variation in relevant contexts that apply to this area of research. From the urban context of large American cities, where American Indians constitute a slim minority…

Although some writers have suggested that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), contrary to its intent, was responsible for a decline in employment for persons with disabilities, there is little strong empirical support for such an assertion. This study is an attempt to demonstrate that, in fact, the dismal labor market experience following…

This response to Slavin's article (2008) explores the issues of transparency, representation, and warranting of claims in Slavin's descriptions of the work of others and his suggestions for program evaluation syntheses. Through contrastive analyses between Slavin's representations of the program evaluation synthesis efforts of five organizations…

This study investigated the relationship between receptive and productive vocabulary size. The experimental design expanded upon earlier methodologies by using equivalent receptive and productive test formats with different receptive and productive target words to provide more accurate results. Translation tests were scored at two levels of…

While approximately 62% of high school graduates enroll in college, almost half of these students do not return for their second year in school. This demonstratable gap in college interest and reaching actual goals speaks to a need for information on how to facilitate the precollege guidance process to achieve more successful high school graduate…

In the late 1990s, teachers in five pilot districts in Ohio were trained during the Baldrige in Education Initiative (BiE IN). Training included Baldrige's theory, quality process and quality tools. The study was a follow-up to determine the effect of the use of the Ohio Baldrige Initiative training in the pilot districts (and other early…

A study was conducted to propose a research-based model for a longitudinal data research system that addressed recommendations from a synthesis of literature related to: (1) needs reported by the U.S. Department of Education, (2) the twelve mandatory elements that define federally approved state longitudinal data systems (SLDS), (3) the…

This article introduces the "Schools and Continuing Professional Development State of the Nation" study (SoNS). Discussion of English policy together with an account of the study's aims and research design provide a context for the other articles included in this special issue. A key assumption behind the research, and the prevailing CPD…

This paper reports a case of online classes from the English Language Teaching Programme at Anadolu University, Turkey. The study used an explanatory case oriented research design that assisted to examine relations between students' learning styles and factors influencing students' participation in asynchronous interactions in online courses. The…

This article describes a collaborative learning experience in experimental design that closely approximates what practicing statisticians and researchers in applied science experience during consulting. Statistics majors worked with a teaching assistant from the chemistry department to conduct a series of experiments characterizing the variation…