This article forms part of a major study being conducted in Zimbabwe to explore the possibilities of integrating indigenous knowledge of plant healing (Ikoph) into western-oriented classroom science. The article reports on an aspect of research methodology. This study explored appropriate strategies for gaining access to indigenous knowledge…

Strategies for understanding the effect of negative life events on the psychosocial development of youth have focused on the aggregate association between risk factors and poor developmental outcomes. However, there is a strand of research in developmental psychology that has pushed for understanding the contextual nature of negative life events;…

Social media is a central component in the lives of many young people, and provides innovative potential to conduct research among this population. Ethical issues around online research have been subject to much debate, yet young people have seldom been consulted to provide a youth perspective and voice. Eight (8) focus groups involving 48 Grade 9…

The science-to-service problem continues to taunt the field of education (Fixsen, Blasé, Naoom, & Wallace, 2009). As an academic discipline, the field requires knowledge generation that adds to or deepens theoretical understandings. As a profession, knowledge generation that solves local problems and supports continuous improvement is…

Historically, the synthesis of single subject design has employed visual inspection to yield significance of results. However, current research is supporting different techniques that will facilitate the interpretation of these intervention outcomes. These methods can provide more reliable data than employing visual inspection in isolation. This…

This paper describes an investigation into the written feedback provided by tutors on Language assignments, together with students' responses to it. The study replicates a previous study of assignment feedback in Technology, in order to determine the extent to which the characteristics underlying common feedback practice and students' perceptions…

"Network" is a fashionable and current term in every field of contemporary society and education is no exception. In this paper, the concept of network (and other associated concepts, such as partnership and collaboration) is reviewed. Such revision regards selected theoretical contributions and is explored in terms of the use of the…

Consistency in the title, problem, purpose, and research question improve the logic and transparency of research. When these components of research are aligned research design and planning are more coherent and research reports are more readable. This article reviews the process for checking for and improving consistency. Numerous examples of…

Research is an important aspect of academic institutions as it brings funding, reputation, and other benefits to the associated establishment. Research misconduct in the form of plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification can occur in association with research, along with subsequent penalties. The problem of the poorly established prevalence of the…

Although methodological discussions abound in qualitative research, little time is devoted to access, arguably one of the most important methodological components of social research. Access has often been treated as a side issue by scholarly sources, receiving only cursory attention, generally in a way that reduces it to a mere strategy and severs…

Debate is occurring about which result interpretation aides focused on examining the experimental effect should be used in single-subject experimental research. In this study, we examined seven nonoverlap methods and compared results using each method to judgments of two visual analysts. The data sources for the present study were 36 studies…

Nearly all quantitative analyses in higher education draw from incomplete datasets-a common problem with no universal solution. In the first part of this paper, we explain why missing data matter and outline the advantages and disadvantages of six common methods for handling missing data. Next, we analyze real-world data from 5,905 students across…

In 2007, I embarked on a PhD study to explore diverse students' experiences, representations and understandings of personal development and personal development planning at one British university. The timing of this project was critical because universities were charged with a responsibility to provide opportunities for students to engage with…

This commentary reflects on the contributions to learning analytics and theory by a paper that describes how multiple theoretical frameworks were woven together to inform the creation of a new, automated discourse analysis tool. The commentary highlights the contributions of the original paper, provides some alternative approaches, and touches on…

Drawing on a larger study on "Gender practices and violence between peers: the stakes of mixed-sex education", this paper examines the methodological challenges specific to carrying out ethnography in an elite high school. The researcher's subjective experience in the field reveals the power dynamics at play in the elite setting. We also…