Research Methods for Education
SAGE Journal Articles
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Journal Article 1: Pigott, T. D., Valentine, J. C., Polanin, J. R., Williams, R. T., & Canada, D. D. (2013). Outcome-reporting bias in education research. Educational Researcher, 42, 424–432.
Abstract: Outcome-reporting bias occurs when primary studies do not include information about all outcomes measured in a study. When studies omit findings on important measures, efforts to synthesize the research using systematic review techniques will be biased and interpretations of individual studies will be incomplete. Outcome-reporting bias has been well documented in medicine and has been shown to lead to inaccurate assessments of the effects of medical treatments and, in some cases, to omission of reports of harms. This study examines outcome-reporting bias in educational research by comparing the reports of educational interventions from dissertations to their published versions. We find that nonsignificant outcomes were 30% more likely to be omitted from a published study than statistically significant ones.
Journal Article 2: Cheung, A. C. K., & Slavin, R. (2016). How methodological features affect effect sizes in education. Educational Researcher, 45, 283–292.
Abstract: As evidence becomes increasingly important in educational policy, it is essential to understand how research design might contribute to reported effect sizes in experiments evaluating educational programs. A total of 645 studies from 12 recent reviews of evaluations of preschool, reading, mathematics, and science programs were studied. Effect sizes were roughly twice as large for published articles, small-scale trials, and experimenter-made measures, compared to unpublished documents, large-scale studies, and independent measures, respectively. Effect sizes were significantly higher in quasi-experiments than in randomized experiments. Excluding tutoring studies, there were no significant differences in effect sizes between elementary and middle/high studies. Regression analyses found that effects of all factors maintained after controlling for all other factors. Explanations for the effects of methodological features on effect sizes are discussed, as are implications for evidence-based policy.
Journal Article 3: Turner, L., & Chaloupka, F. J. (2017). Reach and implementation of physical activity breaks and active lessons in elementary school classrooms. Health Education & Behavior, 44, 370–375.
Abstract: The integration of physical activity into elementary school classrooms, through brief activity breaks (ABs) and lessons that incorporate movement into instruction as active lessons (ALs), are key parts of school physical activity programming and can improve children’s health and academic outcomes. With nationally representative survey data from 640 public elementary schools in the United States, we examined the use of these practices and the extent of implementation within classrooms. ALs were used in 71.7% of schools, and ABs were used in 75.6% of schools. In multivariate models, ALs were significantly less likely to be used in majority-Latino schools (adjusted odds ratio = 0.48, 95% confidence interval [0.25, 0.93], p < .05) than in predominantly White schools. ABs were significantly less likely to be used in lower socioeconomic schools (adjusted odds ratio = 0.57, 95% confidence interval [0.34, 0.95], p < .05) than in higher socioeconomic schools. At schools where ABs were ever used, they were used by 45.6% of teachers, but fewer teachers used them at larger schools (β = −.08, p < .01) and at lower socioeconomic schools (β = −.09, p < .05). The reach of ALs and ABs is modest and classroom-level implementation is quite low. Additional dissemination and support is warranted to improve the reach and implementation of these strategies in elementary schools. Such efforts could improve the school-day experience in ways that benefit millions of young children.