Many research-related classes in social sciences present probability as a unified approach based upon mathematical axioms, but neglect the diversity of various probability theories and their associated philosophical assumptions. Although currently the dominant statistical and probabilistic approach is the Fisherian tradition, the use of Fisherian…

Adherence to the arbitrary 0.05 level of significance as a benchmark for decisions about publishing research largely accounts for the popularity of one-tailed hypothesis tests. Effect size estimates, accompanied by confidence intervals or exact two-tailed probabilities, are generally more compatible with the growing meta-analytic view of social…

This paper details the origins of the media comparison study methodology, its current use as an evaluation instrument in distance education, and recommendations for more stringent discrimination between research and evaluation in the field of distance learning. The following topics are discussed: (1) the history of research in instructional…