By comparing the first and fourth editions of a research methods text, the author identifies and discusses some major changes in educational research metholodogy that have occurred over the past 20 years. Some of the changes relate to ethics and legal constraints in conducting research, research and development, evaluation research, the…

Meta-analysis techniques were used to summarize the results concerning gender differences reported in doctoral dissertations on visual spatial skills. Dissertations were chosen because they are not subject to the selection process of journals, which may bias results toward large effects. An analysis of 150 independent data points in 43…

In response to Congressional direction, a quantitative, analytical review (a meta-analysis) was completed of interactive videodisc instruction applied in Defense training and in the related settings of industrial training and higher education. Over all instructional settings and applications, interactive videodisc instruction was found to improve…

The relationship between class size and scholastic outcomes is addressed in this paper. A literature review focuses on the research of Glass and Smith (1978) and Larkin and Keeves (1984). Contradictory and inconclusive research findings about teacher effectiveness in relation to class size indicate that emphasis should be placed on training…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of experimental research in counseling and counselor education published from 1976 through 1984. The focus of the study was the methodology and reporting of the research rather than its relevance. Time was the independent variable of interest and three 3-year spans were chosen for examination:…

Because research synthesis enables one to determine either the overall effectiveness of a particular treatment or the relative effectiveness of different types of treatments, it is becoming increasingly popular as a tool in program evaluation. Numerous methodological problems arise, however, when research synthesis is applied to studies conducted…

This meta-analysis explored how measuring progress toward long- versus short-term goals relates to contrasting outcome measures of student achievement. Twenty-one controlled studies, that provided sufficient data for the calculation of effect size, were coded in terms of measurement method (toward long- versus short-term goals) and type of…

Although the criterion problem has been acknowledged as critical in personnel research, few attempts have been made to systematically examine the nature and covariates of criterion measures of performance. The present research used meta-analytic techniques to examine the race effect size for objective measures of performance and to compare the…

Although some aspects of the educational effects of computer assisted instruction (CAI) are still unclear, some research findings are now quite definite. Two meta-analysis reviews of CAI have been completed at the University of Michigan, one on secondary school teaching and one on college teaching, and their findings have been independently…

This study was performed in response to the 1989 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, which directed the Department of Defense to conduct a study on the use of interactive videodisk technology in education and training as it pertains to effectiveness, cost effectiveness, time on task, retention, and overall applicability to current and…

Since 1986, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has collected information from 11th-grade students about their employment activities. Out of the 29,000 students asked about work in the 1986 assessment, 54% reported working some amount of time each week, and over 28% reported working more than 15 hours per week. Thus, of 2.9…

The two science education digests for 1985 contained reports of research related to science curriculum and instruction. This information bulletin has been designed to continue making suggestions for improving education, more specifically education in science classrooms. It focuses on: (1) findings from science education studies (including…

This examination of the research on computer-based instruction for the major academic subjects in the elementary and secondary grades considers three varieties of empirical data--surveys of computer-using teachers, school district program evaluations, and experimental field studies. A discussion of the findings of two national surveys of…

This article presents a meta-analysis of the effects of examiner familiarity/unfamiliarity on children's performance during individual testing. Data came from 22 controlled studies involving 1489 subjects. In a typical study, the effect of examiner familiarity raised test performance by .35 standard deviations. Differential performance favoring…

Given the extensive adoption of research orientations that employ qualitative data collection techniques in education, Margaret Haughey found it exciting to read about a meta-analytical method that combined findings from studies within these research orientations with those from the well-established traditional forms that most often employed…