A SURVEY OF DELINQUENCY IN SOMERSET 1958‐1960

This paper urges that the use of the metaphor of triangulation in the explication of research methods (especially in education) may be of fundamentally two types, underlying all further typologies. The first is triangulation between methods, in which mutual validation is sought. But, against this practice, it is urged that one cannot be sure that the different methods address one and the same issue. The second variety is triangulation within a method. Here the data are built‐up from inputs of various perspectives: hence one issue is addressed. But this version fails to provide the sort of mutual support integral to the metaphor of triangulation. So neither version can possibly achieve what it hopes, or claims. Indeed, John Elliott, a defender of triangulation, now seems to be acknowledging this conclusion. Hence care is needed in the use of the term ‘triangulation’ in research: its value is easy to overestimate.     

Using Reading Times and Eye-Movements to Measure Cognitive Engagement

Self-paced reading and eye-tracking can be used to measure microlevel student engagement during science instruction. These methods imply a definition of engagement as the quantity and quality of mental resources directed at an object and the emotions and behaviors entailed. This definition is theoretically supported by models of reading comprehension and visualization comprehension. The use of eye-movement data is based on a number of assumptions, including the assumption that people look longer at words and images because they are thinking about those objects more. Self-paced reading and eye-tracking have strengths such as precision and detail as well as limitations including difficulty of interpretation. Carefully controlled research designs and triangulation of multiple methods are suggested as possible ways to address the limitations and take advantage of the strengths. Two examples drawn from the refutational text literature are described.     

激光三角法测量的研究

三角法属于主动视觉测量方法,是非接触光学测量的一个重要形式。传统的光学三角法,改之以激光光源,并结合电子信号分析电路和计算机信号处理,使测量系统可以得到较高的精度,在三维形貌测量及其他应用中已有一定的研究并有相当的前景。该文较系统地分析了不同结构、不同类型的激光三角测量系统,并比较了其优缺点。针对实际应用中出现的对测量精度的影响因素,给出了相应的解决办法。     

Experiencing spiritual aspects outdoors in the winter: a case study from the Czech Republic using the method of systemic constellations

The article focuses on spirituality on two semantic levels: the first one analyses participants’ experiences during a winter expeditionary course on snowshoes and considers the question of whether residing in the winter landscape with a community of other people may acquire a spiritual dimension in spite of the non-religious environment. The second level verifies whether the trans-rational method of systemic constellations may be used as a research tool, that is, as a specific source for data collection (different from other sources and methods). The research applied a phenomenological approach to the analysis of unstructured interviews (n = 12) and constellation insights; the result confirmed indisputably that certain kinds of experiences obtained in a completely non-religious environment (namely, during a winter expedition on snowshoes in the mountains) can be considered spiritual. The answer to the second question is also positive, since the application of systemic constellations results in different data in comparison with their verbal acquisition. Symbolic images that point out the system and its unaccepted elements deepen the understanding of both the individual and the nature of their spiritual experience.     

Vignette question design for the assessment of graduate sustainability learning outcomes

The development of university wide graduate attributes has become an important mechanism for setting generic learning outcomes across higher education institutions. Many universities around the world have developed sets of graduate attributes that they aim to develop through degree programs. Sustainability related attributes have been included in numerous university attribute statements, however, little research exists on methods that can be used to capture data on the application and use of these attributes by graduates. This paper evaluates an assessment tool, based on a scenario/vignette question design, which can be used to capture data on graduate attributes in context and has the potential to be used across a large graduate population which would enable comparative research of learning outcomes to be undertaken. An evaluation of the usefulness of the scenario/vignette design will be presented based on a pilot of the question design with a sample of RMIT University graduates. The results of the pilot show that scenario/vignettes address some of the limitations of existing self-assessment methods and represent a novel way to collect data on graduate sustainability attributes post-degree completion.     

Learning to Question: The Roles of Multiple Hypotheses, Successive Approximations, Balloons and Toilet Paper in University Science Programs of Southwestern Amazonia

Learning to question is essential for determining pathways of conservation and development in southwestern Amazonia during a time of rapid global environmental change. Teaching such an approach in graduate science programs in regional universities can be done using play-acting and simulation exercises. Multiple working hypotheses help students learn to question their own research results and expert witnesses. The method of successive approximations enables students to question the results of complex calculations, such as estimates of forest biomass. Balloons and rolls of toilet paper provide means of questioning two-dimensional representations of a three-dimensional Earth and the value of pi. Generation of systematic errors can illustrate the pitfalls of blind acceptance of data. While learning to question is essential, it is insufficient by itself; students must also learn how to be solutionologists in order to satisfy societal demands for solutions to environmental problems. A little irreverence can be an excellent didactic tool for helping students develop the skills necessary to lead conservation and development efforts in the region.     

Assessing child abuse: “We need to talk!”

BackgroundThis discussion paper adds to the recent critical debate concerning retrospective measurement of childhood abuse and adverse experiences. A series of recent articles found only modest overlap of prospective informant-based records with retrospective self-report questionnaires, with biases evident in the latter. However, this literature has omitted the use of investigator-based interviews as an alternative retrospective tool for triangulation of measurement. Validated interview approaches can ascertain accurate data using expert scoring that can be used to test both dose-effect and specificity analyses for further research and treatment purposes.ObjectiveArguments for the retention and further promotion of intensive interview measures for retrospective assessment of childhood neglect and abuse in relation to lifetime clinical outcomes are presented, with illustrative analyses.Method and resultsA network analytic approach is outlined, with six types of childhood abuse or neglect experiences scored via a well-validated interview (the Childhood Experiences of Care and Abuse). This indicates distinct pathways between types of neglect and abuse, but also from more common emotional abuse (antipathy, critical parenting) through to more pernicious psychological abuse (coercive, sadistic control) involving physical abuse or sexual abuse pathways. This is supplemented by a case vignette to illustrate the different pathways indicated.ConclusionsThe interview approach gives victims a voice with their narrative (chance to talk) needed for better understanding of the specific dynamics of child abuse and neglect and for an entry into psychotherapeutic work. We need to ensure that such methods are retained in the research and practitioner portfolio of measurement tools.     

Storytelling as a democratic approach to data collection: interviewing children about reading

Background Before the 1990s, an individual or medical model dominated educational research methodology with respect to younger children: the subjects of the research were usually considered untrustworthy sources of information. A subsequent shift towards an ecological model has focused on the child's perspective: however, Lewis and Lindsay have described the development of methods for conducting research with children as slow.

Purpose This paper examines how storytelling can be used as a method of collecting authentic and revealing research data from children. The method is suggested as a valuable way in which to gain insights into children's discourse, and is used in this paper in relation to children's discourse about reading.

Sample, design and methods The storytelling method was initially trialled in one school with 36 children aged between 5 and 11 years. The storytelling interview was then used in case studies over a period of a year in three schools, with a total of 88 7- and 8-year-old children. During the interviews, children were asked to tell a story entitled ‘The child who didn't like reading’. Systematic content analysis was undertaken to identify emergent cultural norms and models in the stories. Information on the children's reading practices, and their observations on reading, was also collected for the purposes of triangulation.

Results The children's storytelling gave access to their cultural models of reading. It was found that the stories demonstrated sufficient triangulation with the other data about the children's reading practices to support a sociocultural production of the children's discourse.

Conclusions Storytelling can provide a useful and credible method of collecting research data from children. It may be especially useful with poor readers as there are no literacy demands, and in this respect, affords socially inclusive research.     

Meta-analysis in the social sciences:

Meta-analysis is a class of statistical methods for combining the results from a series of studies addressing the same research question. These methods can powerfully test hypotheses that cannot be answered clearly with one or a few studies and eliminates the ambiguity that results from narrative reviews of a research literature or from counting the number of studies that support a particular conclusion. The usefulness of meta-analysis is demonstrated by reviewing instances in psychotherapy, education, and medicine that show how meta-analysis was used successfully to end acrimonious debate and reach a firm and lasting conclusion.     

A comparison of Web 2.0 tools in a doctoral course

Adult, professional students in a doctoral-level course used Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, and online discussions to develop answers to six “Big Questions” related to higher education finance and also produced a research paper that used original data or the research literature to improve understanding of a specific topic. At the close of the course, students were asked to provide examples of learning for each question and each tool, and to evaluate the tools used. Bloom's Digital Taxonomy was used to evaluate levels of learning. Results indicated that the level of learning mirrored that of the Big Question or was at higher levels when students used new tools. Wikis generated objections from students who did not care for group work, although others found it a good collaborative tool. Blogs were more acceptable, but online discussions were preferred because of the interaction and sharing among students. Research papers allowed students to learn material of their own interest and to do so in depth.     

Demonstrating understanding,a whole body experience? Can year one children show their science understanding through the use of gestures?

This research project uses the methods of Crowder and Callinan and Sharp to assess year one children's (age 5–6) personal understanding of scientific concepts. This research project uses video recording as a primary resource of data collection within a case study approach using a participant observer method. Analysis supports the work of Crowder and Callinan and Sharp with one child demonstrating an understanding of a scientific concept that her scientific language did not transmit, therefore, answering the research question in the affirmative. This research, like others calls for more research to be carried out and offers a refined taxonomy to strengthen future research findings. More questions arise from this research such as: What effect does the type of questions asked by the teacher have on the type of gesture used? What is the effect of using gesture in teaching? And can gesture recognition be used by the teacher to aid with assessment?     

A Review of Methods for Missing Data

This paper reviews methods for handling missing data in a research study. Many researchers use ad hoc methods such as complete case analysis, available case analysis (pairwise deletion), or single-value imputation. Though these methods are easily implemented, they require assumptions about the data that rarely hold in practice. Model-based methods such as maximum likelihood using the EM algorithm and multiple imputation hold more promise for dealing with difficulties caused by missing data. While model-based methods require specialized computer programs and assumptions about the nature of the missing data, these methods are appropriate for a wider range of situations than the more commonly used ad hoc methods. The paper provides an illustration of the methods using data from an intervention study designed to increase students’ ability to control their asthma symptoms.     

真实网络数据集自动问答系统中的问题分类

为了改善真实网络数据集上自动问答系统的性能,定义出新的问题类别集合和通用的答案重新排序模型.问题分类器借助先验词典和语法分析,将语义和语法信息引入信息检索和机器学习方法,呈现为多种多样的训练属性,包括疑问词、中心动词、疑问词与中心动词依赖关系、中心助动词位置、中心名词、中心名词顶级上位词等.进而通过问题类别信息,对问答查询结果重新排序.实验表明：分类器能够精确实现真实网络数据集的问题分类,重新排序后的自动问答结果也能得到明显改善.这说明借助语义和语法信息,真实网络数据集上的自动问答系统等应用可以得到改善,显示出更好的性能.     

Exploring the Effect of Video Used to Enhance the Retrospective Verbal Protocol Analysis: A Multiple Case Study

This study was a multiple case study used to explore how video enhanced the use of the retrospective verbal protocol analysis (RVPA) within the cognitive task analysis (CTA). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from phenomenological and structured interviews taken from six commercial driver's license driver trainers performing truck driver road tests during a RVPA. The mixed‐methods data collected were used to answer the research question, which asked how the video improved the quality, time, and cost of performing a CTA. Additionally the content collected was used to create curriculum designed to increase hiring managers' skill when performing road tests. The research suggests that video improved the quality to perform a CTA, but did not improve the time and cost to complete the CTA. Although time and cost experienced no improvement in terms of savings to the stakeholder, the findings when presented to the stakeholder provided a discussion for how acquisition of the high‐quality content outweighs time and cost when examining the return on investment. Therefore, taking the time and expending resources to acquire extensive content from experts through use of video as a reflective tool within a CTA during a job analysis can represent a significant return on investment to the organization. The return on investment might encourage stakeholders to approve time and resources necessary to create a training course improving hiring managers' skill when performing road tests.     

Teacher and student voices: a comparison between two perspectives to study integration processes in Italy

Student voice has become increasingly important in educational research at an international level. Research in Italy on school integration of students with disabilities has almost entirely left behind student voice. The very few researches based on student voice suggest that there is a mismatch between student and teacher voices when faced with the same situation. From a methodological outlook, the collection of data through students’ samples implies some difficulties related to the fact that the study regards children and young students. The present issue becomes even more demanding when children with disabilities are taken into consideration. The aim of this research is to demonstrate the mismatch between the data produced by the teachers and the data produced by the students of the same class. These data are the basis for a study on the importance of student voice in research on school integration. The research was carried out as a multiple case study. Nineteen classes with at least one student with disabilities were involved. The teachers filled in a questionnaire with closed questions about school integration, later compared with the students’ answers to the same questionnaire. A structured observation offered the opportunity to triangulate data thus adding new information on the reliability of the two points of view. The main results show that in all the classes there was at least one question with a significant difference between the students’ and the teachers’ answers; the triangulation of data through observation suggested that the students’ perception was as close to observation as their teachers.     

USING SERVICE-LEARNING RESEARCH TO ENHANCE THE ELDERLY'S QUALITY OF LIFE

Through the implementation of sound Service-Learning (SL) projects, research populations seldom involved in academic endeavors, such as the elderly, can be recruited into innovative studies that are likely to improve their quality of life. However, conducting such SL interventions, although important, may be discouraged by the multiple methodological challenges that are likely to be posed by these studies, and by the delicate nature of some of the issues in question. To address the need to develop novel SL gerontology applications, this article proposes topics for SL professors to consider for future research on older adults. Furthermore, it offers preliminary recommendations on ways to minimize the possible methodological challenges inherent in the implementation of these innovative studies, based on a new SL research model. Upper-division SL undergraduate or graduate classes could involve students in advanced SL applications to target some of the complex issues discussed herein, such as abuse (of all types) perpetrated against elderly women, and sexuality in older age. All parties involved in these prospective SL projects, including elderly clients, their health providers and administrators, students, and professors, are likely to benefit from the proposed research.     

A kinect-based motion-sensing game therapy to foster the learning of children with sensory integration dysfunction

Sensory integration dysfunction (SID, also known as sensory processing disorder, SPD) is a condition that exists when a person’s multisensory integration fails to process and respond adequately to the demands of the environment. Children with SID (CwSID) are also learners with disabilities with regard to responding adequately to the demands made by a learning environment, and usually have performance difficulties in one or more areas of life, such as productivity, leisure and play, or activities of daily living, and this can reduce their learning motivation. This study tries to develop a motion-sensing digital game-based SID therapy to help such children become more engaged in physical training, with the hope that by improving their bodily-kinesthetic intelligence these children can be more confident of facing various learning challenges, like those associated with social participation. This research applied the Microsoft Kinect system and a specially designed motion-sensing game related to SID, and used interviews to collect responses from the children and their parents. The Chinese version of the sensory profile and clinical observation were applied to evaluate the effects of the therapy, and the triangulation method applied in the data analysis reveals the improvements of all participants in eight clinical observation items. The results imply that our approach was able to increase the learning motivation and actions of the CwSID who participated in this study, with better results than those obtained in our earlier work, which used the Nintendo Wii device and its commercially available games.     

Directed acyclic graphs: An under-utilized tool for child maltreatment research

BackgroundChild maltreatment research involves modeling complex relationships between multiple interrelated variables. Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are one tool child maltreatment researchers can use to think through relationships among the variables operative in a causal research question and to make decisions about the optimal analytic strategy to minimize potential sources of bias.ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper is to highlight the utility of DAGs for child maltreatment research and to provide a practical resource to facilitate and support the use of DAGs in child maltreatment research.ResultsWe first provide an overview of DAG terminology and concepts relevant to child maltreatment research. We describe DAG construction and define specific types of variables within the context of DAGs including confounders, mediators, and colliders, detailing the manner in which each type of variable can be used to inform study design and analysis. We then describe four specific scenarios in which DAGs may yield valuable insights for child maltreatment research: (1) identifying covariates to include in multivariable models to adjust for confounding; (2) identifying unintended effects of adjusting for a mediator; (3) identifying unintended effects of adjusting for multiple types of maltreatment; and (4) identifying potential selection bias in data specific to children involved in the child welfare system.ConclusionsOverall, DAGs have the potential to help strengthen and advance the child maltreatment research and practice agenda by increasing transparency about assumptions, illuminating potential sources of bias, and enhancing the interpretability of results for translation to evidence-based practice.     

Theme and variations: one middle school’s interpretation of mandated action research

In the current climate of accountability, action research is one way for teachers to evaluate instructional changes designed to improve assessment results. It may become increasingly common for administrators to mandate teacher involvement in action research, yet few studies have been conducted in such settings. This article focuses on one middle school where the principal mandated action research for all teachers. Projects were carried out within academic departments, and department chairs were given latitude in how to organize and implement projects. This study explores project implementation and teacher perceptions of the action research. Interviews were used as an appropriate tool to explore teacher perceptions, with document analysis providing triangulation. Results from interviews of administrators, department chairs, and department members suggest an overall positive attitude toward action research, as well as variation in how action research projects were carried out. Differences occurred across several dimensions of action research, including context, motivation/ purpose, definition of action research, and organization of projects. Variations appeared to be influenced by each department chair’s experience with action research and approach to departmental work, and each department’s history of working together on instructional improvement efforts. This study suggests that administrators who mandate teacher participation in action research projects need to think about both the positive (providing teacher ownership and interest within the mandated context) and problematic (possibly leading to variation in the instructional impact of projects) aspects of project variation.     

The Utility of Augmented Subscores in a Licensure Exam: An Evaluation of Methods Using Empirical Data

Will subscores provide additional information than what is provided by the total score? Is there a method that can estimate more trustworthy subscores than observed subscores? To answer the first question, this study evaluated whether the true subscore was more accurately predicted by the observed subscore or total score. To answer the second question, three subscore estimation methods (i.e., subscore estimated from the observed subscore, total score, or a combination of both the subscore and total score) were compared. Analyses were conducted using data from six licensure tests. Results indicated that reporting subscores at the examinee level may not be necessary as they did not provide much additional information over what is provided by the total score. However, at the institutional level (for institution size ≥ 30), reporting subscores may not be harmful, although they may be redundant because the subscores were predicted equally well by the observed subscores or total scores. Finally, results indicated that estimating the subscore using a combination of observed subscore and total score resulted in the highest reliability.