The authors contend that most research in education lacks statistical power. They feel that the poor use of statistics as a tool for enhancing internal validity must be remediated. The adoption of a new convention is proposed in order to put statistical certainty into reasonable perspective. (RLV)

The Johnson-Neyman technique is briefly reviewed, and a program for carrying out an analysis using the procedure is described. The program accommodates one independent and one dependent variable, up to 20 groups of observations, and an unlimited number of cases. (Author)

Summarizes the post-1994 literature in psychology and education regarding statistical significance testing, emphasizing limitations and defenses of statistical testing and alternatives or supplements to statistical significance testing. (SLD)

Provided initial assessment of the statistical power of rehabilitation counseling research published in selected rehabilitation journals. From 5 relevant journals, found 32 articles that contained statistical tests that could be power analyzed. Findings indicated that rehabilitation counselor researchers had little chance of finding small…

Addresses the need of technical communicators to become critical readers of empirical research. Presents simple definitions of selected research designs and statistical concepts. Accompanies these definitions with concrete examples related to the field of technical communication research. (SR)

Three articles in this special issue explore issues related to the use and misuse of statistical significance testing, the major methodological issue in current educational research. Comments on these articles and rejoinders by the authors of the first three articles explore additional aspects of statistical significance testing. (SLD)

Although statistical significance testing as the sole basis for result interpretation is a flawed practice, significance tests can be useful as one of three criteria that must be demonstrated to establish a position empirically. Statistical significance testing provides evidence that an event did not happen by chance but gives no evidence of the…

Expresses a "middle-of-the-road" position on statistical significance testing, suggesting that it has its place but that confidence intervals are generally more useful. Identifies 10 errors of omission or commission in the papers reviewed that weaken the positions taken in their discussions. (SLD)

Many evaluation students are still being taught the use of tests of statistical significance without being warned about their limitations. This paper discusses other estimates of treatment effects necessary to interpret between-group differences correctly. Sources to improve evaluation practice are also suggested. (SLD)

Suggests that replication research and meta-analysis are not substitutes for statistical significance testing, but rather, like measures of effect size, they are complements to statistical significance testing. Significance testing does provide a means for determining what might be usefully replicated. (SLD)

Proposes and illustrates a new method by which "what if" analyses can be conducted using estimated true population effects. Use of these "what if" methods may prevent authors with large sample sizes from overinterpreting their small effects once they see that the small effects would no longer have been statistically significant with only a…

Shows why the two-step approach proposed by D. Robinson and J. Levine (1997) is inappropriate for the evaluation of empirical results and reiterates the preferred approach of increased sample size and the computation of confidence intervals. (SLD)

Supports a two-step approach to the estimation and discussion of effect sizes, making a distinction between single-study decision-oriented research and multiple-study synthesis. Introduces and illustrates the concept of "conclusion coherence." (Author/SLD)

Many older adult have an interest in learning to use computers. The study reported in this article examined whether older adults' attitudes toward computers can be influenced by direct, customized computer training. Thirty older participants who registered for introductory computer courses offered at a SeniorNet computer lab completed the…

In order to determine the effects of gender and scholastic ability on vocabulary retention and reading comprehension in a foreign language, 181 men and women enrolled in a first-year Spanish course were asked to either read a passage in Spanish on a computer and create annotations for a list of words found in the passage (experimental group), or…