Teachers' beliefs towards educational research has become one significant factor in explaining the gap between research and practice. The present study aimed at reviewing the scale to measure teachers' beliefs about the causes and problems related to research-based practices, describing beliefs that teachers appear to hold, and examining its…

In educational research that calls itself empirical, the relationship between validity and reliability is that of trade-off: the stronger the bases for validity, the weaker the bases for reliability (and vice versa). Validity and reliability are widely regarded as basic criteria for evaluating research; however, there are ethical implications of…

Critically examining common statistical approaches and their strengths and weaknesses is an important step in advancing recreation and leisure sciences. To continue this critical examination and to inform methodological decision making, this study compared three approaches to determine how alternative approaches may result in contradictory…

Research and scholarship into educational effectiveness research (EER) is comprehensively reviewed from the UK, The Netherlands, the US, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and other societies, dating from the field's origins in the 1970s. Issues include its history, methodological and theoretical advances, scientific…

The growing importance of genomics and bioinformatics methods and paradigms in biology has been accompanied by an explosion of new curricula and pedagogies. An important question to ask about these educational innovations is whether they are having a meaningful impact on students' knowledge, attitudes, or skills. Although assessments are…

An examination of typical situations concerning the status of a variable is followed by a discussion of the measurement and empirical problems involved in measuring current status. Arguments for more consideration of variability, particularly individual variation, are presented. Among the problems discussed are (1) describing large samples through…

The clinical inquiry approach to classroom research is seen as a desirable alternative to traditional educational research methods. (LH)

With increasing reliance being placed on the results of their surveys, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recognized a need for these survey results to be valid and reliable. As part of the work of the Statistical Analysis Group in Education (SAGE), an effort was undertaken to investigate validity and reliability in survey…

Motivating students to perform well on assessment tests is difficult when students know the results have no academic consequence. The present study evaluates the influence of assessment context (graded vs. non-graded) on the reliability of an assessment measure. Results indicate the graded condition produces higher reliability (r = 0.71) than the…

The authors recap the main issues in their critique of Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore (CHK) as well as CHK's rejoinder. These issues include reliability and validity of test scores, the use of particular statistical models and inferences from these, and the importance of school policies in assuring higher achievement among students. (IS)