Fit indices are descriptive measures that can help evaluate how well a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model fits a researcher's data. In multigroup models, before between-group comparisons are made, fit indices may be used to evaluate measurement invariance by assessing the degree to which multiple groups' data are consistent with increasingly…

Background: Systematic review or systematic literature review (SLR) methodologies are a powerful tool for evidence-based decision making. The method originated in the medical sciences but has since been adopted by other disciplines, including engineering education (EE). Purpose: We aimed to answer two research questions: (i) To what extent is the…

Using reading research as an example, this article aims to provide new conceptual tools for examining the production of scientific knowledge. Drawing on the metaphor of a theatre of truth, it explores how scientific knowledge is staged, dramatised and communicated within the field of reading research. It highlights the performative and public…

Background: In disability studies belonging is emerging as a promising area of study. Inclusive research, based as it is on lived experience perspectives, is likely to provide salient insights into belonging in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Method: A systematic review utilising four databases and five leading journals in the…

In this article we consider the use of visual images to assess perceptions of plants. Using data drawn from a Swedish study we review our choices regarding the type of image used, and the responses they provoked. Furthermore, we consider these choices in the light of other studies, propose a tentative model of levels of seeing, and call for…

Social researchers have been adapting methods and practices in response to COVID-19. In the wake of these adaptations, but still in the midst of intersecting crises that the pandemic has exacerbated or shifted (e.g. health-social-political-economic), researchers face a future suffused with methodological uncertainties. This paper presents a…

Meta-analyses can be compromised by studies' internal biases (e.g., confounding in nonrandomized studies) as well as publication bias. These biases often operate nonadditively: publication bias that favors significant, positive results selects indirectly for studies with more internal bias. We propose sensitivity analyses that address two…

Systematic reviews are a time-consuming yet effective approach to understanding research trends. While researchers have investigated how to speed up the process of screening studies for potential inclusion, few have focused on to what extent we can use algorithms to extract data instead of human coders. In this study, we explore to what extent…

In this article, the authors address some of the scientific challenges associated with using observation as a research method. The authors ask how researchers contextualise and understand observation in terms of its theoretical underpinnings and how it is conducted. Using a vignette in the kindergarten context, the authors explore how observation…

Many reviews referred to as 'systematic reviews' in ecology are not consistent with best practice in that they generally lack appropriate critical appraisal of included studies. This limitation is particularly important in applied ecology, where there have been increasing calls for more systematic reviews to guide decision making. To identify the…

In recent years there has been a notable increase in the use of phenomenology as a research method, particularly in educational research. With the rise of phenomenology as a research method, confusion has also arisen concerning what counts as phenomenology, and how best to practice phenomenological research in non-philosophical contexts.…

Background: Experience sampling may be useful for mental health research with people with intellectual disability, and evidence of the potential benefits is starting to emerge. This multiple-method study identified potential avenues for tailoring this method to the needs of people with intellectual disability. Method: A scoping review was…

Predatory journals are a blemish on scholarly publishing and academia and the studies published within them are more likely to contain data that is false. The inclusion of studies from predatory journals in evidence syntheses is potentially problematic due to this propensity for false data to be included. To date, there has been little exploration…

Background: Psychology has seen a recent explosion in the use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) to understand cognition. The prevalence of techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in published research has grown immensely in the past decade; however, there has been little effort to incorporate these techniques into…

In the wake of the methodological developments that aim to render qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) "time sensitive", I propose a new procedure for carrying out QCA longitudinally. More specifically, I show first why longitudinal case disaggregation should be carried out with change-based intervals (CBIs) rather than with fixed…