Reference intervals, or reference ranges, aid medical decision-making by containing a pre-specified proportion (e.g., 95%) of the measurements in a representative healthy population. We recently proposed three approaches for estimating a reference interval from a meta-analysis based on a random effects model: a frequentist approach, a Bayesian…

In network meta-analysis, the use of fixed baseline treatment effects (a priori independent) in a contrast-based approach is regularly preferred to the use of random baseline treatment effects (a priori dependent). That is because, often, there is not a need to model baseline treatment effects, which carry the risk of model misspecification.…

Over the past 20 years, there has been much research on how people learn from case comparisons. This work has implemented comparison activities in a variety of different ways across a wide range of laboratory and classroom contexts. In an effort to assess the overall effectiveness of case comparisons across this diversity of implementation and…

Asthma is the leading chronic health condition among children in the United States and a major cause of childhood disability. It also disproportionately affects low-income and racial and ethnic minorities. Although a wide range of interventions have been implemented to improve asthma-related outcomes among socioeconomically disadvantaged and…

Single-case designs (SCDs) are a class of research methods for evaluating intervention effects by taking repeated measurements of an outcome over time on a single case, both before and after the deliberate introduction of a treatment. SCDs are used heavily in fields such as special education, school psychology, social work, and applied behavior…

Numerous ways to meta-analyze single-case data have been proposed in the literature, however, consensus on the most appropriate method has not been reached. One method that has been proposed involves multilevel modeling. This study used Monte Carlo methods to examine the appropriateness of Van den Noortgate and Onghena's (2008) raw data multilevel…

This paper presents the analysis of two representative lessons drawn from a cross case study of K-12 classrooms in which students and their teachers engaged in a collaborative dialogic inquiry process (data-driven dialogue) to co-construct meaning from assessment results. The representative lessons illustrate a significant shift from…

Most empirical tests of mediation utilize cross-sectional data despite the fact that mediation consists of causal processes that unfold over time. The authors considered the possibility that longitudinal mediation might occur under either of two different models of change: (a) an autoregressive model or (b) a random effects model. For both models,…

Despite the growing number of collaborations between volunteers and professional scientists, research efforts investigating the impacts of such collaborations, which we have termed Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR), have been very limited. Examples of PPSR projects include citizen science, volunteer monitoring, and participatory…

Study (a) describes the hierarchical linear models approach to answer general meta-analytical questions for single-case data; (b) compares the approach with the Busk and Serlin approach; (c) presents hierarchical linear models that can be used in various situations for quantitative integration of single-case data; and (d) shows how the SAS…

Marine wildlife tours can provide a range of education and conservation benefits for visitors, including emotional (i.e., affective) responses and learning (i.e., cognition). Interpretive programs cover the biology, ecology, and behavior of marine species; best practice guidelines; and human threats to marine areas. The author reviews the…

The paper proposes a statistical methodology for synthesizing single-subject research in special education. A regression model that can be used to generate effect sizes for both changes in slope and changes in level occuring as a result of the treatment intervention is outlined. (Author/DB)

This resource examines the role of the central office in improving instruction and therefore improving student achievement. Mac Iver and Farley-Ripple provide a comprehensive review of the available research (since the 1970s) on the role of the central office in student achievement. First, they review the research chronologically, and then by…

Focuses on alternative paradigms to experimental inquiry useful to instructional systems researchers, including quasi-experimentation, meta-analysis, case study and ethnography, systems-based evaluation, and technique and model development. Each is discussed in terms of how it generally applies in the field and how it has been employed by…

Discusses alternative models for design of educational media evaluations and describes a formative evaluation of televised lectures developed for use as supplements to live lectures in first year life science courses. Issues and problems identified from the study, including the usefulness of such evaluations, are discussed. (MBR)