In a growing number of countries, government-appointed assessment panels develop ranks on the basis of the quality of scholarly outputs to apportion budgets in recognition of evaluated performance and to justify public funds for future R&D activities. When business and management journals are being grouped in broad quality categories, a recent…

In early intervention, researchers often are interested in interpretation aids that can help determine the relative importance of variables when multiple regression models are used, and that facilitate deeper insight into prediction dynamics. Commonality analysis is one approach for helping researchers understand the contributions independent or…

This paper explores the experiences of White college students as they make sense of their race and their roles in racial justice movements. Findings from two separate but related qualitative studies, when viewed together, result in an exploratory model of racial justice ally development. Racial justice allies are White students who actively work…

The Office of Management and Budget has recommended the termination of numerous federal programs, citing a lack of program results as the primary reason for this decision. In response to this recommendation, several federal agencies have turned to logic modeling to demonstrate that programs are on the path to results accountability. However,…

Background: Those engaged in research might argue that we are involved in a process of explaining the world to others and to ourselves. The way in which we go about that process differs. The kind of questions we are concerned about answering will determine the approach we use, the information we gather and how we analyse the data. Some research…

On the surface, it appears that it should be quite simple to identify the characteristics of a child who is ready for school and then to assess whether or not any given child has these characteristics. But readiness is a difficult construct and one that has been the topic of great debate. Assessment of readiness is even more challenging. Policies…

Assessment has since taken center stage in higher education. Over two-thirds of the states have mandated assessment to document student performance, and many states have initiated performance-based funding strategies. Most assessment efforts are local, including those reported in the special issue of "Teaching Sociology," and most efforts use…

The mechanisms of perceptual learning are analyzed theoretically, probed in an orientation-discrimination experiment involving a novel nonstationary context manipulation, and instantiated in a detailed computational model. Two hypotheses are examined: modification of early cortical representations versus task-specific selective reweighting.…

Preference orderings among a set of options may depend on the elicitation method (e.g., choice or pricing); these preference reversals challenge traditional decision theories. Previous attempts to explain these reversals have relied on allowing utility of the options to change across elicitation methods by changing the decision weights, the…

For many degree programmes, including those within the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development (SAPD) at the University of Reading, modularisation has resulted in increased flexibility of degree programmes and a wider choice of modules offered to students. An important consequence of this is that module co-ordinators and programme directors…

This article is the second contribution to a research methods series dedicated to getting good results from survey research. In this series, "good results" is a stenographic term used to define surveys that yield accurate and meaningful information that decision makers can use with confidence when conducting program evaluation and policy…

Evidence that youth programs have real benefits has prompted efforts to get young people in the door of out-of-school-time (OST) programs. Once youth are enrolled, attendance plays a key role in the participation equation. Children and youth will not benefit unless they attend programs regularly, and evidence is emerging that those who attend more…

Research ethics is not only a matter of doing no harm, or even abiding by the guidelines of the Ethics Review Board of the institution. While these matters are important and legal requirements, there is much more at stake in discussions of research ethics. Research ethics establish the foundation upon which research rests. Taking the social…

This psychometric study was designed to test the feasibility of measuring college students' preferences for developmental and prescriptive advising styles as separate constructs. Part 5 of the Academic Advising Inventory (Winston & Sandor, 1984b) was revised into two independent scales, one for measuring preferences for developmental advising…

This research was prompted by a recognition that the links could be improved between the Cardiff University Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Further Education) (PGCE (FE)) course and its partner colleges, in which students complete their teaching practice. It sets out to explore the external and internal policies on such partnerships, and…