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The purpose of this article is to inform researchers about and encourage the use of longitudinal designs to further understanding of human resource development and organizational theory. This article presents information about a variety of longitudinal research designs, related statistical procedures, and an overview of general data collecting approaches, covering their strengths and weaknesses. The article also serves as a reminder of the importance of alignment between the research purpose, questions and methodology while highlighting the benefits of using multiple methods. Finally, importance of research replicability in the context of longitudinal inquiry is stressed.

Completing doctoral dissertations is difficult work and may be harder for distance students physically separated from institutional and collegial supports. Inability to complete independent research contributes to doctoral student attrition. Factors impacting completion include institutional factors, student characteristics, and supervisory arrangements (Manathunga, 2005). This paper shares proactive strategies used by a Midwestern university in the United States to support distance doctoral students. Strategies and technology tools are described that (a) cultivate a shared culture of responsibility and commitment, (b) increase effective communication between researchers, and (c) grow departmental and institutional services and technologies for faculty and students. This paper suggests the use of a specific framework to help students develop a shared culture of responsibility. This framework encourages students to discuss their social network, as well as teaches students how to manage their split life by using a tool which evaluates a student’s readiness for the dissertation process and maps out where dissertation skills and knowledge are developed throughout the program. Strategies for effective communication include availability, effective feedback, trust, and humor. Services and technologies provided to build capacity include the use of online and library resources, campus-wide use of research software, writing and research services, and department supports and processes to promote student research. These mechanisms for accountability, mentoring, training, and trust increase the likelihood of success.

The ProblemResearch syntheses are rarely used in the field of human resource development (HRD). There are notable exceptions, but our search of the related literature found relatively few instances where procedures like meta-analyses are used to advance theory and empirically informed practice.The SolutionTo address this gap, this article provides a broad overview of different techniques for synthesizing literature. The article describes how research syntheses can be used to inform theory development; this is done via the description of a construct called nomological network. Such a network can be thought of as kind of minitheory, which is derived from the theoretical relationships among key constructs.The StakeholdersReaders interested in developing empirically informed HRD theory and practice should benefit from a description of how research syntheses can inform their work.

This study tested a model in which beliefs about writing, writing self-efficacy, and writing apprehension predict writing performance. The Beliefs About Writing Survey, the Writing Self-Efficacy Index, and the modified Writing Apprehension Test were administered to 738 undergraduates to predict their grade on a class paper. In a hierarchical regression, beliefs about writing predicted variance in writing scores beyond that accounted for by writing self-efficacy and apprehension. Audience Orientation, a new belief associated with expert practice, was the strongest positive predictor of the students' grade. Transmission, a belief in relying on material published by authorities, was the leading negative predictor. Writing self-efficacy predicted performance, albeit modestly. The traditional measure of writing apprehension (anxiety about being critiqued) was not significant, but Apprehension About Grammar, a new construct, significantly and negatively predicted performance. These results support the possibility that beliefs about writing could be a leverage point for teaching students to write.

The concept of teacher accountability assumes teachers will use data-driven decision making to plan and deliver appropriate and effective instruction to their students. In order to do so, teachers must be able to accurately interpret the data that is given to them, and that requires the knowledge of some basic concepts of assessment and statistics. This article will provide the classroom teacher with the basic vocabulary of assessment and clear descriptions of these concepts to facilitate their use of assessment data to develop effective instruction.

There is paucity of detailed information in the literature on how to develop procedures for estimating content validity to increase trustworthiness of assessment instruments. The authors present three unique examples, interpretation, and application of Tables of Specifications (ToS) for generating these estimates. The development and logic of the ToS requires presenting evidence that has transparency and creates trustworthiness in the validity estimates by maintaining an audit trail and using of triangulation, expert debriefing, and peer review. The argument presented is that content validity requires a mixed methods approach since data are developed through qualitative and quantitative methods that inform each other. This process is iterative and provides feedback on the effectiveness of the ToS through a process of determining consensus.

Consistency in the title, problem, purpose, and research question improve the logic and transparency of research. When these components of research are aligned research design and planning are more coherent and research reports are more readable. This article reviews the process for checking for and improving consistency. Numerous examples of consistency among these four components of research are provided and ways to remove inconsistency are outlined. A graphic, rubric and worksheet are provided to help researchers evaluate their own work or give feedback to the research work of others.

This article offers a conceptual discussion of a series of qualitative and quantitative research endeavors that share common underpinnings and purpose. The article demonstrates several commonalities between approaches with the hope of encouraging readers to allow research questions to guide methodological choices and avoid overemphasizing division between research paradigms. The current work offers an extension of ideas previously published in Human Resource Development Review (Newman & Hitchcock, 2011) to address a call to explore aspects of theory-building in the context of research methods (Reio, 2010). Specific ideas discussed here focus on commonalities between quantitative and qualitative work when dealing with the broad notion of generalization, and include connections between transferability, probabilistic generalization, naturalistic generalization, and external validity; commonalities between multiple (or collective) case studies and meta-analyses; and phenomenological perspectives and probability.

A review of the methodological literature describing mixed-methods and quantitative and qualitative research paradigms suggest that though many have rejected the so-called paradigm wars there remains much focus on what is different about each research tradition. This has borne out in practice where professional organizations often have subgroups dedicated to the study of one tradition or another. Indeed, Human Resources Development Review has issued calls for manuscripts that explore this topic. This article examines the idea that there can be times when it is best to think of research as a monolithic paradigm rather than a distinct set of subparadigms. The reason for this is there are a number of common research scenarios where it is best to apply perspectives that might typically be characterized as qualitative as well as ones that are considered to be qualitative in orientation (e.g., using contextual information to make judgments about practical significance). There are other scenarios where the underlying goal of a procedure from, say the quantitative paradigm is similar to that from the qualitative realm (e.g., exploratory factor analyses and thematic analyses). There are of course real differences among the paradigms, but overemphasis on division might obfuscate how to conduct rigorous research. The article closes by encouraging readers to let their research questions dictate methodological approach, in the context of the purpose, rather than building questions around techniques that tend to align with different subparadigms.

This article describes how actuarial methods can supplant discrepancy models and augment problem solving and Response to Intervention (RTI) efforts by guiding the process of identifying specific learning disabilities (SLD). Actuarial methods use routinized selection and execution of formulas derived from empirically established relationships to make predictions that fall within a plausible range of possible future outcomes. In the case of SLD identification, the extent to which predictions are reasonable can be evaluated by their ability to categorize large segments of the population into subgroups that vary considerably along a spectrum of risk for academic failure. Although empirical comparisons of actuarial methods to clinical judgment reveal that actuarial methods consistently outperform clinical judgment, multidisciplinary teams charged with identifying SLD currently rely on clinical judgment. Actuarial methods provide educators with an empirically verifiable indicator of student need for special education and related services that could be used to estimate the relative effects of exclusionary criteria. This indicator would provide a defensible endpoint in the process of identifying SLD as well as a means of informing and improving the SLD identification process. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This study examines the relationship between Bowen's concept of differentiation of self and psychological symptom status in individuals age 62 years and older. Specifically, this study examines through regression methods whether the self-reported differentiation dimensions of Emotional Reactivity, “I” Position, Emotional Cutoff, and Fusion with Others (FO) accurately predicted the level of psychological symptom status as measured by a brief symptom check-list. The major hypotheses of this study were found to be supportive of Bowen's theory of differentiation, even across the stages of later life (with the exception of the FO dimension). These findings have meaningful implications for the assessment and treatment of older individuals.

While integrated treatment programs have been developed and researched nationally for adults with co-occurring disorders of substance abuse and mental illness, little movement has been made on developing and field testing integrated programs that address the needs of youth with co-occurring disorders. This article will present one treatment model that has been developed and piloted in Ohio. The Integrated Co-Occurring Treatment (ICT) model focuses on youth with co-occurring disorders of mental health and substance abuse who have also been involved with the juvenile justice system. To date, the use of the ICT model has resulted in positive outcomes for both the youth and their

Women who flee violence in their intimate relationships often seek sanctuary at domestic violence shelters. Some return to their abusers, whereas others transition to separate living. This study used descriptive and cluster analyses to examine the differential needs of women who indicated they intended to return to their abusive partners versus those who did not. On the basis of the differences between these two groups, a preliminary model of prediction variables was developed to better understand the needs of those who did not specify their future plans after leaving the shelter. Findings revealed differences in the domains of mental health and help-seeking behaviors. Discussion focuses on the meaning and purpose of shelter stay (i.e., for respite or transition) and the role of shelters and their ideology in the decisions made by shelter staff and clients.

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized controlled trial failed to show cardioprotection by estrogen plus progestin treatment of postmenopausal women. But by design, the WHI population was 10-fold underpowered to show cardioprotection of women starting hormone treatment during the menopausal transition. Thus, observational studies that showed cardioprotection in such women remain the only applicable clinical guide to this issue. Randomized controlled trials are urgently needed to test cardioprotection in women starting treatment during the menopausal transition.

This study extends the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST; M I, Selzer, 1971) literature base by examining 4 issues related to the validity of the MAST scores. Specifically, the authors ex a ...

This investigation was conducted 10 estimate the reliability and validity of scores on the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (D. R. Riso di R. Hudson. 1999a). Results of 2H7 participants were an...

Empirical research on career indecision has been criticized for lacking theoretical conceptualization. To address this problem we examined the validity of the decisional process inventory (DPI), a measure of career decision making derived from a model based in Gestalt psychotherapy theory. Undergraduate college students (91 women, 110 men) responded to the DPI and criterion measures of career indecision and vocational identity. Results supported hypothesized relations between and among DPI items and subscales, and the ability of the measure to differentiate individuals by expressed career choice status. Significant intercorrelations among DPI subscales and criterion measures supported the concurrent validity of the DPI. Confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis of the DPI items did not support the hypothesized structure of the DPI to measure three career decision-making process dimensions: readiness, action, and resistance. Although results supported the basic psychometric properties of the DPI as a brief measure of career decision making, additional research is needed to clarify the underlying factor structure of the instrument.

Some fear that the added demands of the Affordable Care Act may worsen already high attrition rates among nurses. One potential solution is that graduate nursing programs must do a better job of selecting and retaining those who can persist in training to gain the clinical and leadership skills necessary to fill these new roles. Some believe emotional intelligence (EI) may help with the selection and retention of graduate nursing students. This study examined EI in 216 nurse anesthesia (NA) students. Q-factor analysis was used to create EI profiles of first-semester, 1-year, and last-semester NA students. It showed one EI type was consistent at each point in the program: High Facial Reader/Low EI Manager. [ J Nurs Educ. 2014;53(9):501–510.]

This article is an elaboration on the use of the binomial test of model fit value, which in this article will be referred to as the binomial index of model fit value, to gauge the degree that the d...

The factor structure of the Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS) was examined. The FOS is a 40-item instrument devised to measure perceptions of health in the family of origin. Subjects were 162 gay and bisexual males. A confirmatory factor analysis was employed to examine the similarities of the factor structure obtained in the present study with those proposed theoretically by the test authors. The results supported the notion that the FOS is comprised of a single underlying construct that may be represented by bipolar items. It was concluded that the findings do not support the theoretically proposed factor structure of the FOS and that the value of the FOS is suspect.

The heads of education divisions of 245 colleges and universities in the USA were surveyed regarding their opinions about faculty activities and reward procedures. Tenure, which was viewed as having the greatest effect on faculty behavior, received significantly more attention from decision‐making bodies in the colleges, and merit pay received significantly less. Education administrators at top universities and larger universities viewed the desire for reputation as more motivating than did other education administrators. The department chairs believed that internal satisfaction was more of a motivating factor than did deans. The deans rated merit pay, contract renewal, promotion and tenure higher as motivators than did the department heads. Although evaluations of teaching were considered the most important for year‐to‐year contract renewal, article and book publication were the most important considerations in merit pay, promotion and tenure. A factor analysis grouped faculty activities into th...

An alternative method for determining the goodness of fit of a proposed theoretical model is presented and applied to a simple case to illustrate its 0use. The method is based on the application of the binomial distribution to the number of paths in a model that are supported by the data. This method is a different conceptual approach than those traditionally used in structural equation modeling studies.

Background. Recent and dramatic therapeutic advances, aggressive care of the elderly, and a heightened awareness of secondary prevention have had a significant, albeit incompletely described, impact on cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs. The authors did a retrospective analysis on 1,848 patients from their phase II CR program that were treated over the past decade. The authors sought to identify and analyze how advances in cardiovascular care might be related to temporal changes in demographics, medical comorbidities, coronary artery disease risk factors, and cardiovascular history among individuals with cardiac disease who have completed the phase II CR program over a 10-year period. Methods. Cardiac rehabilitation records were reviewed from 1986 to 1996 at Akron City Hospital. The data were compiled prospectively by nurses and exercise physiologists and were subsequently analyzed. The charts reviewed were from 1,848 patients who completed outpatient phase II CR. Results. The program began in 1986 with 53 patients completing CR and evolved to 309 in 1996. There has been an increase in the number of elderly patients referred to and completing the program. The number of participants older than 65 years of age increased from 28.3% in 1986 to 52.1% in 1996. Cardiac rehabilitation participants reflect the known demographics of patients with clinical coronary artery disease. Men outnumber women and, on average, the female participants are older than the male participants. There has been a statistically significant increase in medical comorbidities over the course of the study. Although the absolute number of patients entering CR after coronary artery bypass graft survey has remained fairly constant, there has been a dramatic increase in the absolute number of patients entering CR after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (with the latter recently comprising a majority of CR participants). Conclusion. There is a significant trend in the attendance and completion of CR programs by older individuals, which suggests a greater awareness of patients and their physicians. The growth of the program is fueled by high-risk patients with more comorbidities who potentially are the group of patients able to obtain the greatest absolute benefit from CR.

Rejecting the artificial dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative research strategies in the social and behavioral sciences, Isadore Newman and Carolyn R. Benz argue that the two approaches are neither mutually exclusive nor interchangeable; rather, the actual relationship between the two paradigms is one of isolated events on a continuum of scientific inquiry. Through graphic and narrative descriptions, Newman and Benz show research to be a holistic endeavor in the world of inquiry. To clarify their argument, they provide a diagram of the "qualitative-quantitative interactive continuum" showing that qualitative analysis with its feedback loops can easily modify the types of research questions asked in quantitative analysis research and that the quantitative analysis results and its feedback can change what will be asked qualitatively. In their model for research - an "interactive continuum" - Newman and Benz emphasize four major points: the research question dictates the selection of research methods; consistency between question and design can lead to a method of critiquing research studies in journals; the interactive continuum model is built around the place of theory; and the assurance of "validity" of research is central to all studies.

The Continuum of Criminal Offenses was developed in order to examine how a segment of the “law-abiding” community, who are believed to be representative of middle-class values and attitudes towards the law, would rate the seriousness of selected criminal offenses and how they would then handle offenders given the current alternatives available within the criminal justice system. Those crimes which were rated as being more serious were dealt with more sternly in terms of sentencing alternatives. Mixed findings, however, were produced when the same subjects were asked to rate selected criminal offense descriptions according to the seriousness of the criminal elements found within the offenses.

This study attempted to create and test the validity of an Error Analysis Model usable by high school teachers. The premise of the Model is that not all errors can be treated equally. Those errors that lead to the greatest loss of meaning are the most serious and should be treated first. This study contends that certain types of syntactical errors (run‐ons, fragments, awkward sentences) are the most serious errors because they lead to the greatest loss of meaning, whereas common mechanical mistakes such as subject/verb disagreement, comma, period, question mark misuses, and misspellings of common words are not as serious because they do not create as serious a loss of meaning. Results indicate that in themes that do not contain significant mechanical errors, syntactical errors do not lead to a breakdown of meaning. However, in themes with numerous mechanical errors, the nature of the syntactical errors do create comprehension problems. The study concludes with some suggestions for remediating ser...

The task of selecting students who are most likely to succeed in a college Developmental Studies program results in important consequences for individuals and institutions. The present study compared the accuracy of high school grade point average and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores in predicting freshman grade point average (freshman GPA) for two groups of students, Developmental Studies freshmen and regularly admitted freshmen. Analysis indicated the differences in slopes of the regression equations accounted for a small amount of criterion variance, but there was substantially greater error variance in the predictor-criterion relationship for developmental students. The predictor variables for regular students accounted for 34% of the variance in freshman GPA which was about two-and-a-half times more variance than was accounted for by the predictors for developmental students.

Ratio variables, emphasizing correlated denominators, are constructed in three ways. Five ratio variable multiple regression situations are constructed, each with five predictor variables.One of these displays strong "spurious" effects resulting from the use of ratio variables, Using Monte Carlo techniques, one hundred samples for each of four sample sizes (i.e., N =25, 50, 100, 200) are drawn and six average statistics are computed for five additional regression situations created with multicollinearity

The effect of the variables of student sex, grade level, and student achievement on teacher sex role expectations was assessed. Two hundred responses from 70 classroom teachers on the Teacher Sex Role Perception inventory (an adaptation of the Bem Sex Role Inventory) were analyzed. Of the four variables considered, student achievement alone was a highly significant predictor. Teachers classified high-achieving students as androgynous and masculine. Low-achieving students were classified as feminine and undifferentiated. This negative relationship between the feminine sex role and high achievement may be a factor in declining female achievement over grade level.

The selection of students who are most likely to succeed in a college developmental studies program is a task with serious ramifications for individuals and institutions. The present study examined the moderating influence of gender and race on the accuracy of high school grades and College Board Scholastic Aptitude (SAT) scores in predicting the academic performance of developmental students. The results indicated significant slope differences in the regression lines for race with the equation for blacks accounting for 10 percent more variance than the equation for whites. Within the racial groups, significant intercept differences based on gender were found for whites only. The relationship between high school grade point average and SAT scores in predicting freshman grade point average for developmental students was similar to the relationship reported for regularly admitted students.