It is generally believed that the correction formula will yield exact correlational values only when the regression of z on x is both linear and homoscedastic. The formula is shown to hold for nonlinear heteroscedastic relationships. A simple sufficient condition for formula validity and estimation predictions is demonstrated in a numerical…

An evaluation of open education was shown to produce misleading results due to probable regression phenomena. These questionable results are now spread throughout the literature of education, sociology, and psychology. Researchers are advised to review, not merely summarize, prior articles. (Author/PN)

Describes a study of reliability among coders of information for meta-analysis (a quantitative procedure for synthesizing data in primary research reports) of research on life satisfaction in American adults. Identifies sources and areas of disagreement among coders and discusses measures that can be used to enhance intercoder consistency.…

This research note examines respondent-nonrespondent bias in a statewide population survey. The findings indicate general support for using master lists in the selection of respondents for participation in a large mail questionnaire survey. Two papers follow which react to this information. (Author/CT)

Research with couples requires measurement and data analytic techniques extending beyond those typically used with individuals. Measurement issues in couples' research that influence subsequent approaches to data analysis are reviewed, with emphasis on issues of nonindependence in couples' data. Univariate and multivariate analyses of…

Presents a method for the collection and analysis of collateral data about research subjects (i.e., measurements of events in subjects' lives that may affect outcome measures and/or lead to attrition). A six-step procedure evaluates bias resulting from subject attrition from a study using data from lost and retained subjects. (SLD)

Many studies examining health service utilization by older adults involve secondary analyses of existing data sources and rely on behavioral model of health services utilization. Suggests that severe shortcomings in breadth and depth of available data, and numbers of intervals at which data have been recorded, limit understanding of health…

This poem, with stanzas in limerick form, refers humorously to the many threats to validity posed by problems in research design, including problems of sample selection, data collection, and data analysis. (SLD)

This article was authored by a university educator and a twelve year-old child. The first author was a visiting teacher to a small, rural, state primary school in Queensland Australia. She spent one day per week for nineteen weeks fostering an inquiry-based stance to teaching and learning. The second author is a student within the researched…

Presents a new approach for estimating missing observations together with the results of a Monte Carlo study of the relative strengths and weaknesses of this technique and three other available methods. These techniques are then examined with respect to their ability to use incomplete data to estimate the correlation matrix obtained using a full…

The report deals with the relationship between measurement and data analysis procedures in sociological research. The author finds that too many measured variables exist in both theory and measurement assumptions. Since these procedures are interrelated, improvements in either or both areas are necessary. Presented are three sections: (1) specific…

This critique points out weaknesses regarding the test measures used by Munsinger and Douglass and questions the validity of these measures for the ages of the children used in their study. (JMB)

This paper suggests that, at present, a science of natural developmental processes does not exist because few studies are concerned with development as it transpires in naturalistic environments and because truly developmental data are not collected or analyzed. (Author/JMB)

Outlines the recent transition, within educational research, from conflict to cooperation between quantitative and qualitative approaches. Asserts that compatibility is based on a confusion between method as technique and method as logic of justification. Argues that the claim of compatibility cannot be sustained and blocks an interesting and…