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This paper aimed to investigate how the diversity of scientific methods is represented in practical items of college entrance examinations from three science subjects in China. The study was conducted based on the theoretical framework derived from Brandon's Matrix consisting of four types of scientific methods. National Papers for comprehensive science examination in 2022 were selected as the analysis targets. The results revealed that the imbalanced representation of scientific methods existed in college entrance science examinations. The percentage of non-manipulative parameter measurement (NPM) was relatively high, while manipulative hypothesis testing (MHT) was presented in a limited capacity, indicating the practical items in China are less experimental. Furthermore, the distribution of the four types of scientific methods in practical items varied across the three science subjects. At the end of this paper, the implications of the findings and the suggestions for the further studies were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we focussed on designing and evaluating a learning tool for the research process in higher education. Mastering the research process seems to be a bottleneck within the academy. Therefore, there is a great need to offer students other ways to learn this skill in addition to books and lectures. The MethodViz tool supports ubiquitous aspects of the research process in their scientific works higher education students follow. Moreover, the tool facilitates and structures the process interactively. In this paper, we describe the creation process of the artefact and examine the characteristics and scope of MethodViz alongside the traits and ideas of design science research. The evaluation's results are encouraging and show that MethodViz has the potential to improve students' learning achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent volumes of Archival Science writers have pointed out a postmodernistic approach as fruitful for research in archival science. This means that archival research should take full consideration of the societal context in which archives are produced and used. In this article the author pleads for the need to develop scientific methods in archival science as a whole from this postmodernistic approach. So far the debate on archival science has not taken appropriate consideration of the development of scientific methods of our science. In order to establish the necessary basis for an analysis of the scientific methods of the discipline it is necessary to specify the different areas and subareas of archival science. In this analysis it is vital to be precise about the kind of methods that are applicable to each area. The article suggests a general structure of the science into empirical archival science (Society and archives, archival law, the profession of archivists, the use of archives, evaluation of the implementation of new methods) and normative archival science (archival theory, records creation, appraisal, arrangement and description, preservation and access to archival documents). The article focuses on one particular area of societal archival science: a case study of the archival system of the Swedish foreign service: the sum of the activities of the records creator analysed from his societal context, the contents of the archival documents, the archival function, that is to say its organisational position and the composition of the staff - their education and the hierarchical structure inside the archival function and finally the access to the archives both by the records creator himself and by the public. It is fruitful to analyse foreign services as a discursive field in the discourse of western European archival tradition. The main result of the investigation is that foreign services are very much alike in different countries but quite apart from the rest of the archival society in each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent move toward the recognition of empirically supported treatments (ESTs) within numerous facets of the field of clinical psychology has been met with general enthusiasm. The EST movement would not have been possible without the efforts of earlier treatment researchers. Paradoxically, this is also a time when some of the leaders in clinical psychology are recognizing that there is a paucity of experimental treatment research being conducted today relative to the high volume of correlationally based, explicative research, which examines the associations among variables. In this paper we present numerous reasons for the relative excess of explicative research and the paucity of treatment outcome research. Clinical practice is used to exemplify how assessment-oriented, explicative activities and the design of treatment can be integrated. A research-based example in which explicative research is used directly to inform the design of the intervention in treatment outcome research is presented as one model for emulation. Specific recommendations are made to help guide professionals and students entering the field who wish to conduct treatment research. An expansion on some of the themes highlighted in this paper can be found in the chapter from which it was in part derived (Blount, Bunke, & Zaff, 1999). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to investigate the differential diagnostic capacity of the frequency/volume chart. Thus the readings of a 48-hour frequency/volume chart were compared to the urodynamic findings in 62 motor urgency incontinent women and 80 genuine stress incontinent women. Applying logistic regression to the parameters of the frequency/volume chart, with the urodynamic diagnosis as the gold standard, the effectiveness of different parameters and parameter combinations to differentiate motor urgency incontinence from genuine stress incontinence could be estimated. The best differentiating single parameters of the chart were the frequency of micturition and the mean voided volume. A combination of two parameters improved differentiation, with the frequency of micturition in combination with some measure of variability, e.g. the range of voided volumes, being the best. From these results, plots indicating the probability of a diagnosis could be calculated. It is concluded that the frequency/volume chart has differential diagnostic properties. A new feature of the chart, the variability of voided volumes, is introduced and shown to improve the differentiating capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a continuing debate about the proper role of analytical (positivist) science in natural resource decision making. Two diametrically opposed views are evident, arguing for and against a more extended role for scientific information. The debate takes on a different complexion if one recognizes that certain kinds of problem, referred to here as 'wicked' or 'trans-science' problems, may not be amenable to the analytical process. Indeed, the mistaken application of analytical methods to trans-science problems may not only be a waste of time and money but also serve to hinder policy development. Since many environmental issues are trans-science in nature, then it follows that alternatives to analytical science need to be developed. In this article, the issues involved in the debate are clarified by examining the impact of the use of analytical methods in a particular case, the spruce budworm controversy in New Brunswick. The article ends with some suggestions about a 'holistic' approach to the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]