Controversy over the proper place of significance testing within scientific methodology has continued for some time. The suggestion that effect sizes are more important than whether results are significant is presented. Effect size can be defined as an estimate of how much of the dependent variable is accounted for by the independent variables.…

This paper examines the metatheoretical concepts associated with ethnographic/qualitative educational inquiry and overviews the more commonly utilized research designs, data collection methods, and analytical approaches. The epistemological and ontological assumptions of this newer approach differ greatly from those of the traditional educational…

Educational researchers have claimed that the quantitative and qualitative approaches to educational inquiry are, indeed, compatible. However, it would be unfortunate to discontinue this debate. The quantitative-qualitative debate began with the interpretive approach to social inquiry. Dilthey argued that since cultural/moral sciences differ from…

This paper presents a review of the literature on reliability in qualitative studies. Reliability is defined as the extent to which studies can be replicated, using the same methods, and getting the same results. It is the degree to which data are independent of the accidental circumstances of the research. The review includes the following three…

A description is presented of the development of an attitude survey, the Mississippi Student Teacher Attitude Inventory, which was designed to establish a reliable instrument for obtaining feedback concerning student teaching. A synthesis of studies from related literature indicate that there are numerous ways to approach the assessment of student…

A computer simulation was undertaken to determine the effects of using Huynh's single-administration estimates of the decision consistency indices for agreement and coefficient kappa, under conditions that violated the beta-binomial assumption. Included in the investigation were two unimodal score distributions that fit the model and two bimodal…

The accuracy of trait estimates obtained from three vertical equating methods was examined. The procedures studied included two anchor test designs and a single-group design. Data from two content areas and two grade combinations were studied. A three-parameter logistic model was used to perform the equatings. The results obtained were used to…

The author conducted a cross national analysis of sociological research reported in leading journals at two points in time over a ten year period to determine if sociologists' ability to produce valid social generalizations had improved significantly over the recent past. The official journals of the United States (American Sociological Review),…

Arguments have recently been put forth that standard textbook procedures for determining the sample size necessary to achieve a certain level of power in a completely randomized design are incorrect when the dependent variable is fallible because they ignore measurement error. In fact, however, there are several correct procedures, one of which is…

The study of teachers as decision-makers is a recent paradigm in educational research. This decision-making approach considers the teacher as an active professional engaged in various decision-making activities prior to and during instruction. This paper describes a naturalistic research design employed in a recent dissertation that investigated…

The purpose of this study is to help define the precise nature and limits of the tolerable range in which a researcher may be relatively confident about the statistical validity of his or her research findings, focusing specifically on the statistical validity of results when violating the assumptions associated with the one-way, fixed-effects…

This paper describes DATASIM, a comprehensive software package which generates simulated data for actual or hypothetical research designs. DATASIM is primarily intended for use in statistics and research methods courses, where it is used to generate "individualized" datasets for students to analyze, and later to correct their answers.…

In order to assess the methodological merit of the published research in educational administration based on surveys, the authors analyzed data from a random sample of 24 survey studies published in the "Education Administration Quarterly" and the "Journal of Educational Administration." Each article was evaluated according to…

The measurement of self concept and motivation of children ages 3 to 6 with an interview instrument is not an easy task. It has been accomplished with middle income, suburban children before. However, this same interview did not work well with low income, urban preschoolers. This study presents the preliminary psychometric work on a new interview…

The major finding of the Law-Related Education Evaluation Project report for Year 1 (1981), that law-related education courses can reduce juvenile delinquency, is of limited use to educational decision makers and could be misleading. The research design leaves much to be desired; however, that fact must be considered in light of the difficulty of…