This colloquium brings information about a second cycle of OECD's International Early Learning and Well-being Study (IELS) to the early childhood community, and offers a further critique of the approach to comparative research that the IELS embodies.

Comparison studies conducted to determine which instructional interventions are most efficient for teaching discrete behaviors to individuals with disabilities are potentially valuable, although some threats to internal validity may be more likely in these studies. Studies included in this review typically met common internal validity standards,…

The use of "radar charts" is an increasingly popular way to present spatial data in a visually interesting format. Some authors recommend using "filled radar charts" to compare the performance of observational units. Filled radar charts are not appropriate for such comparisons because the size of the area within the polygon is not invariant to the…

To explain country differences in an analytical or structural dependent variable, the application of a macro-micro-model containing contextual hypotheses is necessary. Our methodological study examines whether empirical studies apply such a model. We propose that a theoretical base for country differences is well described in multilevel studies,…

National average happiness and the difference in happiness between women and men are positively correlated in European countries. This study focuses on this cross-country relationship and tests (1) whether, after controlling for socio-economic factors, the correlation is attributed to their direct relationship, or, alternatively, explained by the…

Many see trust as an important social resource for the welfare of individuals as well as nations. It is therefore important to be able to identify trust and explain its sources. Cross-country survey analysis has been an important tool in this respect, and often one single variable is used to identify social trust understood as trust in strangers,…

Using data from national socio-economic panel surveys in Australia, Britain and Germany, this paper analyzes the effects of individual preferences and choices on subjective well-being (SWB). It is shown that, in all three countries, preferences and choices relating to life goals/values, partner's personality, hours of work, social participation…

This study compares work time data collected by the German Time Use Survey (GTUS) using the diary method with stylized work time estimates from the GTUS, the German Socio-Economic Panel, and the German Microcensus. Although on average the differences between the time-diary data and the interview data is not large, our results show that significant…

The work of behavioral scientists and philosophers on value measurement is discussed, including a review of issues, controversies, and several attempts to measure values. The author points out vast disagreement in existing literature about value measurement, definitions of measurement and values in general, and the meaning of the scientific…

Investigates whether different measurements can significantly influence the outcome of a study. Examines whether voters learn more from political advertisements than from television news, using exposure and attention to measure television watching, confidence and accuracy to measure knowledge, and different control strategies. Finds that different…

There is a need for clarity regarding different research strategies in order to assess the relative contribution of each. Using the framework of the Facet Design Technique (FDT) for problem structuring, eight general research strategies are identified as they relate to measurement fidelity, representativeness of units, and treatment…

This study reports various aspects of the analyses carried out on the longitudinal data reported in a previous study (PS 007 345) for determining the general growth patterns and growth velocity of mental and motor development. Preliminary analyses focused on the selection of the growth curve, its evaluation in the 208 individual cases, and the…

This guide is essentially designed as a teaching aid for those who would inform planners, officials of educational ministries, school administrators, principals, and teachers about educational outcome measurements. In outline and graphic form, the guide presents topics for discussion in a seminar dealing with the application of outcome…