A variety of measures have been developed to quantify intervention effects for single-case experimental design studies. Within the family of non-overlap indices, the Tau-U measure is one of the most popular indices. There are several Tau-U variants, each one calculated differently. The appropriateness of each Tau-U variant depends upon the data…

Background: Rapid reviews involve a streamlined approach to knowledge synthesis. They are used to identify high-quality evidence for the purpose of informing decisions and initiatives, completed over relatively short timeframes, and have been found to reach conclusions that do not differ extensively from full systematic reviews. Although common in…

Health system managers and policy makers need timely access to high quality, policy-relevant systematic reviews. Our objectives were to obtain managers' and policy makers' feedback about user-friendly summaries of systematic reviews and about tools related to supporting or assessing their use. Our interviews identified that participants prefer key…

This article considers the role of research in disentangling an increasingly complex relationship between literacy policy and practice as it is emerging in different local and national contexts. What are the tools and methodologies that have been used to track this relationship over time? Where should they best focus attention now? In answering…

This brief research report gives an overview of a visually based methodology that has recently been used to shed light on situated decision-making in a high stakes educational assessment environment. Looking carefully at the feedback interactions taking place between senior and less senior examiners, the project aim was to gain insight into the…

Social work students are typically reluctant to engage in research. The research partnership model takes a service-learning approach, allowing students to work with data from a community agency and resulting in a final paper with all the sections of an empirical journal article. Use of this model in teaching social work research enhances student…

Author summarizes assumptions underlying research into human processing of probabilistic information used in decision-making. He outlines a model for further studies, noting that why subjects may reject it is as important as whether they do so. Theoretical prospects are discussed also. (Author/PD)

This paper explains some of the problems with, and their importance to the application of, the Cross-Impact Matrix (CIM). The CIM is a research method designed to serve as a heuristic device to enhance a person's ability to think about the future and as an analytical device to be used by planners to help in actually forecasting future occurrences.…

Describes The Information Game, a computer game intended primarily for management information system research. The use of this game will aid researchers in answering questions about the ways decisionmakers gather information and how they use it. (JJD)

New research from the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement provides a tool that colleges and universities can use to describe the higher education market, find their places within it, and identify what they need to do in the future. The market analysis and segmentation tool is outlined, and a worksheet for institutional planning is…

The purpose of this study was to provide information concerning the dimensions of perceived student rights, which were defined as policies on student behavior in the development and implementation of which students may petition to participate. A 54-item attitude instrument was designed to include controversial statements gleaned from the…

Describes the activities of a selection committee made up of university faculty members which was charged with choosing a new computer for academic and research computing at Queens University in Ontario. Aspects of the committee's internal workings and dealings with vendors and the campus community are discussed. (Author/JL)

Presents a concentric research design model based on need for research which transcends individuals' historic or experiential bias concerning choice of study design, tools, and data reduction strategies. Describes the following "rings": theory/knowledge orientation; theory versus applied research; quantitative versus qualitative research…

Although scholars and policy analysts both value quality-controlled collections of research results, they evaluate research according to different criteria. Nevertheless, an examination of a pessimistic fictional research experience and a more productive actual experience indicate that, although differences in focus between scholars and policy…