Clarifies two sets of issues raised in preceding commentaries. First, interaction effects are undoubtedly salient in resilience research; yet main effect findings can be equally critical from an intervention perspective. Second, although resilience research and prevention science reflect similar broad objectives, the former involves explicit…

Discussion of the need for systematic methods for summarizing single-participant research describes various approaches for quantitative synthesis and reviews conclusions of completed synthesis efforts. The issue of whether outcomes of single-participant research can be represented by a single common metric is addressed with the recommendation that…

This article presents a response to Timothy Patrick Moran's article "The Sociology of Teaching Graduate Statistics." In his essay, Moran argues that exciting developments in techniques of quantitative analysis are currently coupled with a much less exciting formulaic approach to teaching sociology graduate students about quantitative analysis. The…

A reply to Lawrence Ferrara's Chapter 4 in R. Phelps, R. Sadoff, E. Warburton, and L. Ferrara, "A Guide to Research in Music Education," 5th Edition is presented. It it curious that Ferrara disagrees with Jack Heller and Edward J. P. O'Connor's view that "philosophy" is not "research," yet in the chapter headings in the book A Guide to Research in…

In education research, a polar distinction is frequently made to describe and produce different kinds of research: "quantitative" versus "qualitative." In this article, the authors argue against that polarization and the associated polarization of the "subjective" and the "objective," and they question the attribution of generalizability to only…

This paper describes the findings of an OECD project examining ICT impact measurement and analyses based on official statistics. Both economic and social impacts are covered and some results are presented. It attempts to place ICT impacts measurement into an Information Society conceptual framework, provides some suggestions for standardising…

This paper assesses the relative merits of numerical and textual approaches to the study of international events. While enjoying a much longer history, numerical approaches have certain representational drawbacks that do not apply to textual approaches. Textual models provide a more adequate descriptive foundation for the study of international…

This document reviews "The Collected Works of George E. P. Box," edited by G. C. Tiao. The two-volume collection is divided into five parts. Each part is prefaced with an introduction by a statistical researcher giving his view of the motivation and highlights of the papers presented. The 16 papers in Part 1 on statistical inference,…

The mathematical extension from scalars to matrices as a prerequisite for univariate to multivariate generalizations of statistical concepts and methods is discussed. One reason for several alternative techniques is the multitude of ways to generalize from univariate concepts to multivariate concepts. The additional complexity, and lack of…

Introduces structural modeling with nonnormal continuous variables, using the equations language of the micro-mainframe program EQS in the context of a longitudinal study of adolescent development that followed about 700 adolescents across an 8-year span into young adulthood. Two models are developed to assess the influence of drug use on…

Considers problems which arise when researchers do not have the optimally large sample sizes desired in structural equation modeling. Discusses the ways in which small sample size affects assessment of model fit. Provides a new estimator that may be beneficial for use in small-sample situations. (Author/RH)

Modeling the process by which participants are selected into groups, rather than adjusting for preexisting group differences, provides the basis for several new approaches to the analysis of data from nonrandomized studies. Econometric approaches, the propensity scores approach, and the relative assignment variable approach to the modeling of…

Reviews a model by Joel Kleinman (proposed in this issue) for comparing State infant mortality rates to long-term trends. Asserts that even States with non-significant test results may have problems needing attention. Argues that the model may not be practically applied by State health officials. (KH)

Discusses current practices for statistical assessments of employment discrimination and suggests nonstatistical techniques that can be used to aid in interpreting results of statistical analyses. The techniques incorporate principles of Boolean algebra and allow holistic comparison of categories of similarly situated individuals. (CMG)

Critiqued is a paper on student evaluation of instructors by David Dilts which appeared in the "Journal of Economic Education," Spring 1980. Shortcomings and problems in Dilts' work are examined, and an alternative estimation procedure, using a statistical interpretation, is proposed. (Author/RM)