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Philosophical arguments are expected to provide the foundation of research and should be mentioned when reporting research. This study explores the presentation of philosophical assumptions in 1,026 mixed methods research (MMR) articles from the field of education. Eighty-one papers (7.9%) provided philosophical commitments, and 31 distinct stances were claimed. Philosophy was presented with different roles, including that philosophical stance can direct the decision to use mixed methods or result from that choice. This article contributes the field of MMR by highlighting an oversight in the reporting practices of the MMR community. Possible causes for the findings include weaknesses in research education and knowledge. Alternative models of the research process may be required to accurately match descriptions of research practice.

Textbooks for social science research suggest that studies are necessarily grounded in foundational philosophies that shape the research process. However, the literature does not provide a consistent picture of how philosophical positions shape research, and few studies have investigated researchers' own ideas about this process. This study aimed to classify researchers' descriptions of how philosophical positions connect to aspects of the research process and to investigate metaphors used to describe these connections. From a sample of 1500 journal articles, 73 papers were found that directly mentioned a philosophical position. The analysis found that philosophical positions are most often connected with study design and methodology, or with concepts and theories. The connections include that philosophical positions result in, support, match and result from aspects of the research process, and that philosophical assumptions could be inherent in methodologies and theories. Metaphorically, philosophical positions were a tool, path, location, support, resource, person and seeing. These classification frameworks can be used in future research to understand how researchers conceptualize philosophical positions and how this influences their decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A Self-surveying Camera Array (SSCA) is a vision-based local-area positioning system consisting of multiple ground-deployed cameras that are capable of self-surveying their extrinsic parameters while tracking and localizing a [...]

This study investigated whether basic details of the research process are mentioned in social science research articles. Five hundred empirical articles were sampled from the Social Sciences Citation Index. The frequency of omitted details was mixed. For central essential details, omission rates were: 0% for research purpose, 2% for data collection method, 8% for sample size, 20% for data analysis method, and 48% for sampling strategy. The analysis found that 56% of articles were missing one or more of these five details. For more peripheral details, omission rates were: 36% for limitations, 55% for ethical considerations, and 94% for foundational philosophy. Prevalence rates were varied when compared across different disciplines and between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Possible causes for these findings include the use of secondary data, the view that certain details are not essential, and traditions in ethnographic writing. Those involved in academic publishing are invited to reflect on the basic details that are essential for their specialism and how reporting standards are enforced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philosophical arguments are expected to provide the foundation of research and should be mentioned when reporting research. This study explores the presentation of philosophical assumptions in 1,026 mixed methods research (MMR) articles from the field of education. Eighty-one papers (7.9%) provided philosophical commitments, and 31 distinct stances were claimed. Philosophy was presented with different roles, including that philosophical stance can direct the decision to use mixed methods or result from that choice. This article contributes the field of MMR by highlighting an oversight in the reporting practices of the MMR community. Possible causes for the findings include weaknesses in research education and knowledge. Alternative models of the research process may be required to accurately match descriptions of research practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both structural and functional approaches to restoration of eastern deciduous forests are becoming more common as recognition of the altered state of these ecosystems grows. In our study, structural restoration involves mechanically modifying the woody plant assemblage to a species composition, density, and community structure specified by the restoration goals. Functional restoration involves reintroducing dormant-season, low-severity fire at intervals consistent with the historical condition. Our approach was to quantify the effects of such restoration treatments on soil organic carbon and soil microbial activity, as these are both conservative ecosystem attributes and not ones explicitly targeted by the restoration treatments, themselves. Fire, mechanical thinning, and their combination all initially resulted in reduced soil organic C content, C:N ratio, and overall microbial activity (measured as acid phosphatase activity) in a study site in the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, but only the effect on microbial activity persisted into the fourth post-treatment growing season. In contrast, in a similar forest in the central Appalachian Plateau of Ohio, mechanical thinning resulted in increased soil organic C, decreased C:N ratio, and decreased microbial activity, whereas fire and the combination of fire and thinning did not have such effects. In addition, the effects in Ohio had dissipated prior to the fourth post-treatment growing season. Mechanical treatments are attractive in that they require only single entries; however, we see no indication that mechanical–structural restoration actually produced desired belowground changes. A single fire-based/functional treatment also offered little restoration progress, but comparisons with long-term experimental fire studies suggest that repeated entries with prescribed fire at intervals of 3–8 years offer potential for sustainable restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]