The purpose of this conceptual paper is to engage with the idea of criticality, specifically as performed by higher education researchers that espouse a critical quantitative approach. We contend there are many inherent hazards, ethical commitments, and contradictions that come with engaging in critical quantitative inquiry. Chief among the…

Following Mayhew and Simonoff's recent work (2015), we describe effect coding, an alternative to dummy coding, and present an example of its application for research and assessment in higher education and student affairs.

Policymakers and institutional leaders in higher education too often make decisions based on descriptive data analyses or even anecdote when better analysis options could produce more nuanced and more valuable results. Employing the setting of higher education program evaluation at a midwestern regional public university, for this study we…

This paper aims to unsettle assumptions of generalizability and representativeness in quantitative research using queer framings and positionalities. We argue that generalizability and representativeness are tools of supremacist dominance that reinforce harmful and essentialist categories of identities for the false purpose of statistical…

Statistical methods are indispensable to the practice of science. But statistical hypothesis testing can seem daunting, with P-values, null hypotheses, and the concept of statistical significance. This article explains the concepts associated with statistical hypothesis testing using the story of "the lady tasting tea," then walks the…

The purpose of this article is to describe effect coding as an alternative quantitative practice for analyzing and interpreting categorical, race-based independent variables in higher education research. Unlike indicator (dummy) codes that imply that one group will be a reference group, effect codes use average responses as a means for…

This article is about being and becoming a qualitative researcher in Turkey, a context with a distinctive quantitative tradition shaped by the post-positivist paradigm where qualitative research has not yet reached the mature stage it enjoys elsewhere. Exploring the challenges of swimming against the tide unattended and keeping going, it argues…

Financial analysts generally create static formulas for the computation of NPV. When they do so, however, it is not readily apparent how sensitive the value of NPV is to changes in multiple interdependent and interrelated variables. It is the aim of this paper to analyze this variability by employing a dynamic, visually graphic presentation using…

The Education 2030 Agenda calls for robust monitoring, reporting, and evaluating indicators from Early Childhood Education (ECE) to adult education. The new agenda demands clear indicators and measurement to generate evidence-based international discourses and advocacy. Ensuring availability of education data and statistics for evidence based…

The purpose of this paper is to describe effect coding as an alternative quantitative practice for analyzing and interpreting categorical, multi-raced independent variables in higher education research. Not only may effect coding enable researchers to get closer to respondents' original intentions, it allows for more accurate analyses of all race…

Recent events demonstrate the need for better pedagogical preparation, particularly for online instruction. There has been a sudden burst of professional development nationwide in light of the glaring need. But across higher education more broadly, questions still persist: Isn't teaching more art than science? Will faculty learn about and…

What topic would you choose if you had the luxury of writing forever? In this article, John Thelin provides his response: He would opt to write about the history of higher education in a way that relies on quantitative data. "Numbers, please!" is his research request in taking on a longitudinal study of colleges and universities over…

Learning technologies are now commonplace in education, and generate large volumes of educational data. Scholars have argued that analytics can and should be employed to optimize learning and learning environments. This article explores what is really meant by "analytics", describes the current best-known examples of institutional…

Higher education has seen an increase in the number of faculty conducting scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Unfortunately, the momentum of this movement is somewhat thwarted by debates over which methodology should take center stage. The discussion often pitches quantitative experimentation against qualitative approaches and mistakenly…

The foreign students' education has a great influence on the internationalization of higher education and the reputation of university. Since the 21st century, the foreign students' education has developed rapidly and has been extending continuously in Shandong Province. However, a series of problems still exist, such as the imperfect of the…