Statistical Techniques in AERJ Articles, 1979–1983: The Preparation of Graduate Students to Read the Educational Research Literature

Abstract

The statistical techniques used in American Educational Research Journal (AERJ) research articles between 1979 and 1983 were coded by (a) type of technique, and (b) "major" or "minor" importance for comprehending the research findings. Twenty-seven types of technique were identified and further classified as "basic," "intermediate," or "advanced" level, in terms of typical statistics course progression. Of the "major" techniques, 33%, 37%, and 17% were basic, intermediate, and advanced level,, respectively. A review of statistics texts currently in use revert led that basic texts predominate and that the content coverage in both the basic-and intermediate-level texts generally matched well the techniques found in the AERJ articles. The findings suggest that students with both a basic-and intermediate-level knowledge of statistics would understand most of the techniques encountered in AERJ. Other topics addressed included an examination of trends in use of statistical techniques over time, and a comparison of AERJ techniques with those used in a sample of Journal of Educational Psychology (JEP) articles for the same time period.

Trends in Career and Technical Education Research

“…Our list of data analysis methods for quantitative studies was fashioned after the list used previously by Goodwin and Goodwin (1985) and Swanson and Alford (1987). This approach grouped analyses into three groups-basic (statistics typically covered in a first semester, introductory-level course), intermediate (statistics taught in a second or third semester course), and advanced (statistics normally requiring classes for a fourth semester or more)-based on the degree of training needed to conduct and interpret the analysis.…”

Content Analysis of Papers Published in Educational Journals with High Impact Factors

“…Benzer şekilde bu bulgular Willson (1980) 'ın AERJ'de 1969'ın AERJ'de -1978 yılları arasında yayımlanan makaleleri incelediği ve ANOVA, ANCOVA, korelasyon, çoklu regresyon, diskriminant analizi ve MANOVA'nın sıklıkla kullanıldığını saptadığı çalışmanın sonuçları ile desteklenmektedir. Goodwin ve Goodwin (1985a, 1985b Yurt dışında eğitim bilimleri alanında yapılan bazı makale inceleme çalışmalarında (Elmore ve Woehlke, 1998;Goodwin ve Goodwin, 1985a;Hsu, 2005;Kieffer vd., 2001;Willson, 1980) seçilen dergilerle, bu çalışma kapsamında seçilen AERJ dergisinin ortak olması eğilimlerinde ortaya konulmasını sağlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda, sık kullanılan veri analiz yöntemlerindeki eğilimlerin 1970'lerden 2000'li yıllara kadar benzer olduğu görülmektedir.…”

The Case for Using the General Linear Model as a Unifying Conceptual Framework for Teaching Statistics and Psychometric Theory

“…Studies by Edgington (1964Edgington ( , 1974 covering several decades showed that prior to the 1968 article around 2/3rds to 3/4ths of published articles used ANOVAs. Similar studies after the 1968 article showed a large drop in the use of ANOVAs (Elmore & Woehlke, 1988;Goodwin & Goodwin, 1985;Kieffer, Reese & Thompson, 2001;Willson, 1980). The present paper argues for teaching statistics and psychometric theory using the GLM as a unifying conceptual framework.…”