This article summarizes the general uses and major characteristics of factor analysis, particularly as they may apply to counseling research and practice. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) are overviewed, including their principal aims, procedures, and interpretations. The basic steps of each type of factor analysis are elucidated. For EFA, the methods of factor extraction (principal component analysis and principal axis factoring), retention, rotation, and naming are summarized. CFA's basic operations (model specification, testing, and interpretation) are discussed. In conclusion, EFA and CFA are directly applied to the development of a counseling-related instrument.

This article discusses the interrelated issues of statistical power, sampling, and effect sizes when conducting rigorous quantitative research. Technical and practical connections are made between these concepts and various inferential tests. To increase power and generate effect sizes that merit practical or clinical notice, not only must the research aims and associated design be well devised, reflecting best scientific practice, state of the art sampling procedures should be applied with sufficiently large and representative number of participants. Applications to research conducted in the counseling profession are included.

According to the literature, a majority of nurses and nursing students report a lack of comfort and ability to perform a spiritual assessment. The researchers designed and implemented an intervention program to address the 4 barriers most frequently identified as obstacles to performing a spiritual assessment. They discuss this study and suggest teaching interventions to assist nursing students to assess and implement spiritual care. Researcher-developed tools are presented and can be made available for use.

This study investigated the relationship between a constructivist learning environment and students' attitudes toward statistics. The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) and the Attitude Toward Statistics scale (ATS) were used to measure the environment and attitudes respectively. Participants were undergraduate students of an introductory college statistics course. They were drawn from Seattle Pacific University in the US and the University of Zimbabwe.The study had two components. One component addressed hypotheses examining potential differences between groups and the other explored relationships between variables. The environment was not manipulated and the data was collected from courses that already existed in the form studied. For this reason, the overall design of the study had causal comparative and correlational elements. A constructivist learning environment was found to be significantly related to students' attitude toward statistics. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the groups based on location.The study examined the similarities and differences in perceptions and attitudes of students from two very different learning milieus. Cross-cultural comparisons have the potential to generate new insights into statistical pedagogy and the role noncognitive socio cultural variables play in teaching statistics to college-age students.

A classroom of diverse learners with diverse language backgrounds can be a great challenge for a classroom teacher. English Language Learners (ELL) present a particular challenge to teachers as they represent such a wide range of academic abilities, English language abilities, and academic background. Constructivism is widely touted as an approach to probe for children's level of understanding and the ways in which that understanding can be taken to higher level thinking. Constructivism is a way of learning and thinking. It is how students make sense of the material and how they can be taught most effectively. Constructivism as an educational theory holds that teachers should take into account what students know. Teachers then build on this knowledge and allow students to put their knowledge into practice. This paper will explore how the theory of constructivism may benefit ELL students in an inclusive classroom.