Meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD) is considered the "gold-standard" for synthesizing clinical study evidence. However, gaining access to IPD can be a laborious task (if possible at all) and in practice only summary (aggregate) data are commonly available. In this work we focus on meta-analytic approaches of comparative…

The aim of the present assay is to provide a simple algorithm as well as a didactic theoretical framework that may serve as an introduction to understanding modern habitat suitability (HS) modelling techniques in Ecology and Biogeography. The proposal is built on classical descriptive statistics and classical ecological theories. Shelford's theory…

As STEM education becomes more prominent at the school level, many possibilities could be suggested for beginning experiences to create a foundation for young students as they begin their journeys with respect to STEM learning. The research reported here is based on the premise that building statistical understanding will enhance young students'…

This quantitative study investigates the diversity of the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Award which is given for outstanding young adult literature titles. The award's website notes that it strives for diversity amongst the award winning or honored titles. This study uses quantitative analysis to determine if the committee's…

Within mixed methods research, a key issue is how to mix qualitative and quantitative research orientations. Similar debates arise within a mixed method called Q methodology [Q] that has an 80-year history and strong qualitative leanings. Q is often identified with the sorting of statements and the factor analysis (grouping) of people with similar…

Recently, Nissen et al. argued in this journal for the use of Cohen's d, in place of the more commonly used normalized gain, in the analysis of preinstruction and postinstruction scores on concept inventories used to measure the effectiveness of instruction. Their reason for advocating such a change is that they say normalized gains are…

Widespread availability of rich educational databases facilitates the use of conditioning strategies to estimate causal effects with nonexperimental data. With dozens, hundreds, or more potential predictors, variable selection can be useful for practical reasons related to communicating results and for statistical reasons related to improving the…

Indigenous research Knowledges and methodologies have existed over millennia, however it is only recently that Indigenous scholars have been able to challenge institutional Western hegemony to reclaim sovereignty in the research space. Despite the high volume of quantitative research describing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, there…

There is currently much controversy in the student evaluations of teaching, employed by many universities world-wide. The administrators see these as a valuable means to measure a teacher's effectiveness and, hence, potential for advancement, while much of the research suggests that these may be unreliable proxies for how effective the student…

The "2nd Annual WPI-UMASS-UPENN EDM Data Mining Challenge" required contestants to predict efficient testtaking based on log data. In this paper, we describe our theory-driven and psychometric modeling approach. For feature engineering, we employed the Log-Normal Response Time Model for estimating latent person speed, and the Generalized…

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a multicycle survey of adult skills and competencies sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The survey examines a range of basic skills in the information age and assesses these adult skills consistently across participating…

Decades of research has shown that spacing practice trials over time can improve later memory, but there are few concrete recommendations concerning how to optimally space practice. We show that existing recommendations are inherently suboptimal due to their insensitivity to time costs and individual- and item-level differences. We introduce an…

Decades of research has shown that spacing practice trials over time can improve later memory, but there are few concrete recommendations concerning how to optimally space practice. We show that existing recommendations are inherently suboptimal due to their insensitivity to time costs and individual- and item-level differences. We introduce an…

The COVID epidemic has provided an excellent example of the need to call on a wide variety of statistical tools to address a global problem, and can give students insights into some of the dimensions of data science. Here, we describe some of the characteristics of data that students encounter as citizens. We set out some teaching ideas, which…

This article discusses the current situation of research methodology training for international relations (IR) graduate students in China. Since the country's opening up, research methods training in IR has gradually advanced in universities. We administered a survey to postgraduate IR students in China about their training in research…