Survey-based research is vital in education and social sciences, offering insights into human behaviors and perceptions. The prevalence of such studies in medical education has risen by 33% over the past decade. Despite this growth, the utility of survey findings depends on the study design quality and measure validity. Many manuscripts are…

Divided into two volumes, "Handbook of Special Education Research" provides a comprehensive overview of critical issues in special education research. This first volume addresses key topics in theory, methods, and development, exploring how these three domains interconnect to build effective special education research. Each chapter…

This guide is addressed to policy officials, program providers, and researchers who are seeking to: (1) identify and implement social programs backed by valid evidence of effectiveness; or (2) sponsor or conduct an evaluation to determine whether a program is effective. The guide provides a brief overview of which studies can produce valid…

This issue of "FOCUS" discusses external validity and what rehabilitation researchers can do to help practitioners answer the question "How far can we generalize this finding-- is it applicable to other clients/patients, with different characteristics, in dissimilar settings treated by other clinicians?," which clinicians and…

The authors center their presentation of material around a conceptual understanding of psychometric issues, such as validity and reliability, and on purpose rather than procedure, the "why" rather than the "how to." Their goal is to introduce psychometric principles at a level that is deeper and more focused than found in introductory…

Since research conclusions derived from inappropriate statistical methodologies can lack accuracy, the article describes a technique appropriate to the heterogeneity of special needs groups in which subjects are assigned to fairly homogeneous subgroups. The technique is related to research in reading with this population. (DB)

Compares and contrasts standards and techniques of qualitative and quantitative usability testing methodologies. Focuses on ways technical communicators can ensure rigorous tests in terms of the validity and reliability of findings, defining criteria of validity and reliability for both quantitative and qualitative methods. Presents a list of…

The main features of a multiple site, structured case study design are presented. The nature of explanatory patterns, how case study investigators pursue and recognize valid patterns, and how an analyst can apply the same logic to cross-site analysis are discussed. (Author/BW)

External and implementation factors and their potential threats to field test validity and the practical realities of the field testing process on results are discussed. External factors include site selection, negotiations, contracts, site monitoring, training, and type of product. Implementation factors include motivation, dependence on local…

The development of a valid and reliable method of assessing recreational patterns was the purpose of this study. Recreational activities were classified using activity clusters and the setting for the activity. This information yielded a two-dimensional matrix for viewing activities. The first dimension of the matrix was the recreational activity…

Evaluation studies on educational questions attempt to provide answers in the form of conclusions or inferences which are derived from the information collected. Valid inferences are a result of careful research design for the study, and may be causal, descriptive, value-oriented, or probabilistic. Basic steps in designing an evaluation study are…

Discusses how meta-analysis allows clinicians to determine objectively both presence and size of an effect or correlation within the existing literature by pooling the results of various studies and performing statistical analyses. Describes the risks and benefits of applying information obtained from meta-analysis into clinical practice.…

This book is a guide to categorizing, measuring, testing, and assessing aspects of language, and is intended for language teachers, speech therapists and other language-related practitioners, and researchers, in conjunction with other resources on research methods and statistics. The first part is a discussion of basic terminology and the varied…

This paper is based on the premise that relatively little is known about how to improve validity in qualitative research and less is known about how to estimate validity in studies conducted by others. The purpose of the study was to describe the conceptualization of validity in qualitative inquiry to determine how it was used by the author of a…

Some issues in the design of classroom research on second language teaching are discussed, with the intention of helping the researcher avoid conceptual pitfalls that may cripple the study later in the process. This begins with an examination of concerns in sampling, including definition of a population to be studied, alternative sampling…