The study of communication and its disorders often involves coding several behaviors and examining the proportions with which individual behaviors are produced within data sets. Problems are encountered when studying multiple behaviors between data sets, because of the interdependence of the proportions: as one coded behavior increases, at least…

This study uses social network analysis (SNA) in an innovative way to describe interaction and explain how interaction influences sense of community of students in online learning environments. The findings reveal differences on sense of community between two similarly structured online courses, and show unique interaction patterns for students in…

Instructional applications of Q methodology (a set of procedures that can be used in studying the subjective nature of things) provide a means for teaching communication skills, analyzing thinking patterns, making comparative analyses, and structuring intrapersonal processes. Taking the best from quantitative and qualitative research methods,…

Effect size is the degree of treatment effect in experimental research and is considered in relationship to power, significance criterion, and sample size. Effect size is useful in assessing meaningfulness of statistically significant research results. Its use as a discriminator between "meaningful" and "trivial" treatment effects is considered.…

The study of video game effects has been marked by two very different approaches. The first approach is represented by social scientists, who, with some exceptions, seek to understand the effects of games on users. The second approach is favored by humanists, who seek to understand the meaning and context of games. To date, these two groups have…