Whether the goal is to identify and describe trends and variation in populations, create new measures of key phenomena, or describe samples in studies aimed at identifying causal effects, description plays a critical role in the scientific process in general and education research in particular. Descriptive analysis identifies patterns in data to…

Argues that scientific style manuals provide much sound advice, but also pass along advice at odds with recently published literature regarding how scientists actually conduct research and write up their findings. Presents a revised model for the scientific article based on information in recently published research on communication in science.…

The hypothesis is the device scientists use to translate questions, theories, or proposed explanations into a form amenable to empirical research. This edition of W. W. Charter's treatise on clear, conceptual definitions and precise operational hypotheses, which was originally developed to assist students in educational policy and management…

The goal of this primer is to help policymakers and other interested individuals answer three big questions: (1) What does the research say? (2) Is the research trustworthy? (3) How can the research be used to guide policy? Answering these questions will help policymakers: (1) make evidenced-based decisions about education policies; (2) gain a…

Investigates whether science is biased against ethnic minority research, noting the lack of psychological research on ethnic minorities and discussing how to promote quality research. Examines ethnic research, the philosophy of science, and selective enforcement of scientific research principles, noting the consequences of selective enforcement.…

Discusses research constraints cited for nursing faculty--lack of socialization for nurses to research, lack of academic background, and lack of research time--and suggests ways to incorporate research activities into nursing faculty regular workload using resources available in clinical and campus settings. (MF)

Current literature and federal agency pronouncements concerning falsification of discovery, theft of discoveries, and violations of accepted research procedures are examined, and internal institutional procedures for addressing these issues are suggested. Particular attention is given to due process afforded to faculty accused of such misconduct.…

The National Student Research Center (NSRC) is dedicated to promoting student research and the use of the scientific method in all subject areas across the curriculum, especially science and mathematics. The NSRC facilitates the implementation of a nationally recognized, innovative, and highly effective approach to instruction called the Student…