Many qualitative research methods inadvertently examine the client's perspective through the lens of researcher- or counsellor-derived constructs and categories, thereby blurring practitioner and client perspectives. This article provides a step-by-step guide for conducting multivariate concept-mapping (MVCM), a mixed-methods research design that…

This article describes a 13-week laboratory course called Human Toxicology taught at the University of Otago, New Zealand. This course used a guided inquiry based laboratory coupled with formative assessment and collaborative learning to develop in undergraduate students the skills of problem solving/critical thinking, data interpretation and…

Graduate students in the health sciences who hope to become independent researchers must be able to write up their results at a standard suitable for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Bayesian analyses are still rare in the medical literature, and students are often unclear on what should be included in a manuscript. Whilst there are published…

In the context of intensifying accountability for academic work internationally, there are increasing pressures on individual supervisors, departments and universities to evaluate the quality of doctoral supervision. Existing evaluation tools are focused at departmental rather than individual level and are mostly quantitative. Evaluation for…

Good evaluation requires that evaluation efforts themselves be evaluated. Many things can and often do go wrong in evaluation work. Accordingly, it is necessary to check evaluations for problems such as bias, technical error, administrative difficulties, and misuse. Such checks are needed both to improve ongoing evaluation activities and to assess…

One of the central challenges to studying highly skilled performance in the laboratory is methodological. It is necessary to develop standardized methods that allow investigators to make experts repeatedly reproduce their superior performance in the laboratory. The recent increase in demand for translational research has raised related issues of…

This paper is based upon experiments developed as part of a Directed Research course designed to provide undergraduate biology students experience in the principles and processes of the scientific method used in biological research. The project involved the evaluation of herbal remedies used in many parts of the world in the treatment of diseases…

Assessment research is at its best when it packages research results and data so that they can be digested by multiple audiences. Too many assessment researchers spend all their efforts planning and executing the research project with little attention to closing the loop at the end. If assessment findings are not communicated effectively, the…

Research on disability issues in countries of the South is primarily dominated by a focus on generating large scale quantitative data sets. This paper discusses the many challenges, opportunities and dilemmas faced in designing and undertaking a qualitative research study in one district in India. The Disability, Education and Poverty Project…

Research into the practice of academics serves to inform higher education development (HED) theory and interventions, and is important for the development of the professional knowledge of the HED practitioner. Through such research HED practitioners gain access to what in another context is referred to as "guilty knowledge". The complex ethical…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to give ideas and suggestions to avoid some typical problems of qualitative articles. The aim is not to debate quality in qualitative research but to indicate some practical solutions. Design/methodology/approach: The paper discusses the design of qualitative research and the structure of a qualitative article…

This paper presents a retrospective explanation as to how evaluation culture has been slowly incorporated into politics and public institutions in Spain during the last three decades. Evaluation, quality, and excellence are relevant concepts embedded in the design of current political programs. At this moment in history, it is important to ask,…

Calvin Lunsford Beale was born in Washington, DC, on June 6, 1923, and passed away at age 85 on September 2, 2008. He was a city boy born and bred, and while he "never wanted to live in a rural area" he became one of the most astute observers of rural America in the latter half of the twentieth century. Calvin spent the majority of his…

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to describe a design that mixes single-case (sometimes referred to as single-subject) and qualitative methods, hereafter referred to as a single-case mixed methods design (SCD-MM). Minimal attention has been given to the topic of applying qualitative methods to SCD work in the literature. These two…

This paper postulates that having students engage in albeit limited and flawed research is a more effective way of changing attitudes than lecture or discussion. A common goal of the introductory linguistics course is to instill healthy language attitudes, but there is little extant research on the pedagogy of linguistics indicating how this may…