It is widely believed that regression models for binary responses are problematic if we want to compare estimated coefficients from models for different groups or with different explanatory variables. This concern has two forms. The first arises if the binary model is treated as an estimate of a model for an unobserved continuous response and the…

Having surveyed the history and methods of meta-regression in a previous paper, in this paper, we review which and how meta-regression methods are applied in recent research syntheses. To do so, we reviewed studies published in 2016 across four leading research synthesis journals: "Psychological Bulletin," the "Journal of Applied…

Treatment effect estimates from a "regression discontinuity design" (RDD) have high internal validity. However, the arguments that support the design apply to a subpopulation that is narrower and usually different from the population of substantive interest in evaluation research. The disconnect between RDD population and the…

The goal of this chapter is to provide a brief introduction to one of the most rigorous nonexperimental analytical methods currently employed by education researchers: regression discontinuity.

The purpose of this article is to inform researchers about and encourage the use of longitudinal designs to further understanding of human resource development and organizational theory. This article presents information about a variety of longitudinal research designs, related statistical procedures, and an overview of general data collecting…

Quantitative research in vocational education and training (VET) is routinely affected by missing or incomplete information. However, the handling of missing data in published VET research is often sub-optimal, leading to a real risk of generating results that can range from being slightly biased to being plain wrong. Given that the growing…

Research synthesis of evaluation findings is a multistep process. An investigator identifies a research question, acquires the relevant literature, codes findings from that literature, and analyzes the coded data to estimate the average treatment effect and its distribution in a population of interest. The process of estimating the average…

This methodological note illustrates how a commonly used calculation of the Delta-p statistic is inappropriate for categorical independent variables, and this note provides users of logistic regression with a revised calculation of the Delta-p statistic that is more meaningful when studying the differences in the predicted probability of an…

The use of stepwise methodologies has been sharply criticized by several researchers, yet their popularity, especially in educational and psychological research, continues unabated. Stepwise methods have been considered particularly well suited for use in regression and discriminant analyses, but their use in discriminant analysis (predictive…

This paper examines how schools choose class size and how households sort in response to those choices. Focusing on the highly liberalized Chilean education market, we develop a model in which schools are heterogeneous in an underlying productivity parameter, class size is a component of school quality, households are heterogeneous in income and…

Because of limitations on research controls, research designs in postsecondary education are often complex and can involve many independent and potentially confounding variables. What is needed to adequately address such research questions is a flexible and powerful data-analytic approach, and the general linear regression model is recommended.…