The year 1998 marked 50 years of doctoral study in New Zealand, and in 1999 I embarked on a history of Ph.D. theses in Education. Influenced by Foucaultian genealogy, this employed a fusion of bibliographic, archival and life-history interview methods. One hundred and eighty-three Education theses were identified and 57 of these graduates…

Magnitude of effect (ME) statistics are an important alternative to statistical significance. Why methodologists encourage the use of ME indices as interpretation aids is explained, and different types of ME statistics are discussed. The basic concepts underlying effect size measures are reviewed, and how to compute them from published reports…

Using learning theory approaches and definitions of persuasion generated from learning theorists, a study examined the effects of anxiety on message-induced persuasion by using meta-analytic techniques to quantitatively assess the effect of anxiety manipulation in persuasive situations. Studies used in the meta-analysis were similar in context and…

The early and recent history of meta-analysis is outlined. After providing a definition of meta-analysis and listing its major characteristics, developments in statistics and research are described that influenced the formulation of modern meta-analytic methods. Major meta-analytic methods currently in use are described. Statistical and other…

Statistical analysis of many studies on Piaget's stage 4 object concept attempts to synthesize available quantitative data. Factors of this "meta-analysis" include: (1) effects of age; (2) number of A trials; (3) length of delay between hiding and search; (4) number of locations; and (5) visual properties of hiding arrays. Includes…

Presents 40 questions, commentaries, and rebuttals on the generalizability of validities of employment tests of cognitive abilities and meta analysis. (BL)

Examined the relation between a counselor's conceptual level (CL) and the counseling process. Counselors who were matched with a compatible environment performed better than those who were mismatched. Low-CL individuals performed significantly better in more highly structured environments, whereas high-CL individuals showed only a slight…

Meta-analysis, applying data analysis to quantitative summaries of individual studies, is described in terms of procedures and advantages (inclusiveness and examination of interactions across studies) for special education research. (CL)

During the 1990s, the use of meta-analytic methods in educational research has been widespread, and few aspects of education have escaped the meta-analytic revolution. The acceptance has not been complete, however, and several threats to validity remain. Prominent among these are the "normality" problem and the "independence"…

The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) (F. Richardson and R. Suinn, 1972) was submitted to a reliability generalization analysis to characterize the variability of measurement error in MARS scores across administrations and to identify possible study characteristics that are predictive of reliability variation. The meta-analysis was performed…

Two general categories comprise the various effect size indices that have been proposed for use in meta-analysis: (1) the "d"-type estimator (based on magnitude of mean difference); and (2) the "r"-type estimator (based on magnitude of correlation). In meta-analyses, researchers often must convert these effect size indices to a common metric to…

Discusses meta-analysis results for gender differences in mathematics achievement. (MKR)

Meta-analysis, one strategy nurses can use to influence public policy in health care, can amplify effects too small to observe in single or small studies, bring cost data to the fore, and highlight ramifications of local interest to policy- makers. (SK)

Findings of a review of 64 meta-analytic articles show that experimental data and quasi-experimental or nonexperimental data are sometimes combined incorrectly. Discusses how guidance from proponents of meta-analysis fails to make clear the importance of not synthesizing different kinds of data. (SLD)

Conducted a reliability generalization study of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (D. Crowne and D. Marlowe, 1960). Analysis of 93 studies show that the predicted score reliability for male adolescents was 0.53, and reliability for men's responses was lower than for women's. Discusses the need for further analysis of the scale. (SLD)