This study examined the impact of rater agreement on decisions concerning the alignment between the "Golden State Examination in High School Mathematics" (California Department of Education, 2001a) and the University of California (UC) "Statement on Competencies in Mathematics Expected of Entering College Students" (Academic…

A qualitative case study design was used to investigate the ways in which two early interventionists supported emergent literacy development for infants and toddlers with visual impairment. Three themes are addressed: (1) the importance of a family-centered approach in addressing emergent literacy in early intervention; (2) the role of the early…

This chapter examines the core analytic elements of randomized experiments for social research. Its goal is to provide a compact discussion for faculty members, graduate students, and applied researchers of the design and analysis of randomized experiments for measuring the impacts of social or educational interventions. Design issues considered…

The purpose of this study was to collect and examine intervention studies conducted with young children with autism. The synthesis looked at inferential studies reported between 1975 and April 2001 that included preestablished criteria such as, for example, at least two thirds of the participants ages 3 to 8 years and 50% or more of the…

Following the cultural turn within the social sciences, recent debates on how to conceptualise "the rural" have focused on "rurality" as a phenomenon produced by processes of social construction. This paper presents an empirical account of the outcome of these social construction processes through an analysis of how teenagers…

The phrases "best practice" and "evidence-based" are much in the air, and they imply that the answers are already out there. We just have to choose the right ones. Educational research in this connection is a kind of product testing. The U.S. Office of Education has made it a policy that rigorous product testing is the only…

Randomized social policy experiments (SPEs) are an important methodology for investigating topics in child development. This article provides a framework for understanding how evidence from SPEs can add to knowledge about child development. The use of SPEs for child development questions to date is summarized and lessons from the applied economics…

A structural equation modeling approach to scale reliability evaluation can be employed to estimate generalizability theory indexes in settings where sampling of subjects and conditions is carried out. In one- and two-facet crossed designs, it is demonstrated how this method can be used to obtain estimates of relative generalizability…

The purpose of this research is to understand the effect of the presence of children in the home on the quality of life of clergy and clergy spouses. A survey research design is used involving a random sample of 232 clergy and 169 clergy spouses. Data collected pertaining to selected variables in the ABC-X model of family stress. Discriminant…

The purpose of the study was to describe the organizational socialization of assistant principals and consider how that socialization prepares them for becoming principals. Using a case study research design and social systems theory as the theoretical framework, 8 assistant principals in 2 different high schools were interviewed (as were their…

The tendency to cast mothers in a negative light has featured in much of the literature researching child sexual abuse. More recently however, this trend has become increasingly evident in any number of empirical discussions focusing on mothers who themselves have a history of child sexual abuse. This article presents a detailed thematic analysis…

By employing a concomitant variable, block designs and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) can be used to improve the power of traditional analysis of variance (ANOVA) by reducing error. If subjects are randomly assigned to treatments without considering the concomitant variable, an experiment uses a post-hoc approach. Otherwise, an a priori approach…

This document includes two presentations on research methods appropriate to research questions involving art classroom settings. "The Nuts and Bolts of Basic Research" (Read M. Diket) outlines the classification systems of research and establishes their basis in purpose and method. Systems represented are: (1) historical research; (2)…

Standard statistical methods are used to analyze data that is assumed to be collected using a simple random sampling scheme. These methods, however, tend to underestimate variance when the data is collected with a cluster design, which is often found in educational survey research. The purposes of this paper are to demonstrate how a cluster design…

Randomization tests have been suggested as a method for analyzing the data from single-case designs. This paper explores three concerns which have arisen: the nonresponsive nature of randomization tests, the appropriateness of specific test statistics and the power of these tests. An example is given to illustrate how partial control can be given…