Data from a longitudinal sample of dating couples (some of whom married) were analyzed to test the aspect of Waller's (1938) principle of least interest that states that unequal emotional involvement between romantic partners has implications for relationship quality and stability. Both members of the couples were asked multiple times over several…

To immerse high school students in inquiry, as advocated by the National Science Education Standards (1996), and to take advantage of the Internet's power, students are engaged in a computer data-mining exercise to solve real science problems. After formulating their research question, students scour the Internet to locate raw data they can…

Several data-analysis problems could be addressed in different ways, ranging from a series of related "local" fitting problems to a single comprehensive "global analysis". The approach has become a powerful one for fitting data to moderately complex models by using library functions and the methods are illustrated for the analysis of HCI-IR…

To assess the major sources of students' difficulties in qualitative analysis (QA), 51 grade 10 students (15 to 17 year old) from three secondary schools were interviewed. The results found that the major sources of students' difficulties in understanding QA are formation of precipitates, formation of complex salts and addition of acid.

This study compared data from death certificates (DC), medical examiner (ME) reports, and Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for homicides among children age 5 years or younger in Jefferson County, Alabama between 1988 and 1998. Records from each source were matched independently to records from the other two sources. Kappa coefficients…

Objective:: This study examined the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and parenting outcomes including parenting stress, feelings of competence and discipline strategies. Maternal depression and current partner violence were hypothesized to be mediators of the association between CSA and parenting. Method:: This study is based on…

We contrast 2 theories within whose context problems are conceptualized and data interpreted. By traditional linear theory, a dependent variable is the sum of main-effect and interaction terms. By dimensional theory, independent variables yield values on internal dimensions that in turn determine performance. We frame our arguments within an…

This study examines technical efficiency in European higher education (HE) institutions. To measure efficiency, we consider the capacity of each HE institution, on one hand, to provide competencies to graduates and, on the other hand, to match competencies provided during education to competencies required in the job. We use a large sample of…

This report describes measures and methods of data analysis and representation of a systemic approach to the assessment of curricular and pedagogical contributions to general education learning objectives. An existing system for student evaluation of teaching was transformed to enable faculty to designate the learning objectives of the course and…

The Mathematical Association of America Guidelines for Programs and Departments in Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences recommends the use of a periodic external review as an assessment tool to evaluate the mathematics program and the department. However, there is surprisingly little information on how to conduct an external review for a…

Purpose: To explore and analyse various learning organizations and to attempt to outline the form of a holistic learning organization. Design/methodology/approach: The tool described in this article is a continuation of the work published in a Licentiate thesis in 1996 and developed further in a doctoral dissertation in 2001. The Learning…

Purpose: To illustrate the need for social network metadata within semantic metadata. Design/methodology/approach: Surveys properties of social networks and the semantic web, suggests that social network analysis applies to semantic content, argues that semantic content is more searchable if social network metadata is merged with semantic web…

This paper considers the contemporary use of focus groups as a method of data collection within qualitative research settings. The authors draw upon their own experiences of using focus groups in educational and "community" user-group environments in order to provide an overview of recent issues and debates surrounding the deployment of focus…

I. Klugkist, O. Laudy, and H. Hoijtink (2005) presented a Bayesian approach to analysis of variance models with inequality constraints. Constraints may play 2 distinct roles in data analysis. They may represent prior information that allows more precise inferences regarding parameter values, or they may describe a theory to be judged against the…

Most publications on outcomes assessment take a holistic approach: they focus more on the whole of assessment than on its components. They describe entire academic assessment programs and their cumulative impact on institutional effectiveness. Some evaluation articles characterize assessment components such as instruments, findings, and use of…