Please
check,
just in
case…
Announcements:
• Next week is Fall Break – no class (awww!)
• Make appointments for small groups to meet
with me on Oct. 20. in my office.
• Upload ALL of the materials you will use in
your presentation to learn.unm. I will post
them for the rest of the class in a folder.
• Bring a copy on a flash/USB drive to class,
just in case.
Quick
questions,
quandaries,
concerns or
comments?
APA Tip of the Day: Heading levels
“Regardless of the number of subheadings
within a section, the heading structure for all
sections follows the same top-down
progression. Each section starts with the
highest level of heading, even if one section
may have fewer levels of subheading than
another section.…The introduction to a
manuscript does not carry a heading that
labels it as the introduction. (The first part of
a manuscript is assumed to be the
introduction)” (APA, 2010, pp. 62-63).
APA Heading levels - example
First Level is Centered, Bold, Upper and Lowercase
Second is Flush Left, Bold, Upper and Lowercase
Following text starts on a new line with regular paragraph indentation.
Third is indented, bold, lowercase, end with a period and have text follow.
Like this and you don’t enter in a paragraph return, just keep typing after the final
period of the heading.
Fourth is indented, bold, lowercase, italics, end with a period and have text
follow. Like this…
Fifth is indented, not bold, lowercase, italics, end with a period and have text
follow. Like this…
TODAY’S TOPIC:
Critical concepts in
quantitative
designs
Quantitative
Nonexperimental Designs
• Descriptive?
• Correlational?
• Comparative?
Descriptive Research
How many?
 What percentage of students in a
given school district are from different
ethnic groups?
 How many students nationwide are
identified with autism?
 What is the average number of
disability labels students are identified
with?
Correlational and Comparative
These types of studies compare the
relationships between two or more
variables.
Sample variables:
• Ethnicity
• Test scores
• Gender
• Physical performance
• Grade level
• Ancillary services
• Disability
• Funding (i.e. “D” level)
• SES
• Behavioral ratings
Independent vs. Dependent
Variables:
 Independent variable – the
“influencing” variable.
• i.e. age
 Dependent variable – it “depends on,
or is influenced by, the independent
variable.
• i.e. average distance able to run in 15
minutes.
Independent vs. Dependent
Variables:
 Ethnicity
 Test scores
 Gender
 Physical performance
 Grade level
 Ancillary services
 Disability
 Placement (i.e. “D” level)
 SES
 Behavioral ratings
Correlational Studies
This type of research seeks to predict
relationships between variables.
For example:
 Do students with more disability labels
receive more ancillary services?
 Which variable or combination of variables
best predicts student funding level (“A”,
“B,” “C,” or “D” level)? SES, ethnicity,
disability label, or gender?
Comparative Studies
This type of research seeks to compare
different groups on a specified variable.
For example:
 Are students from particular ethnic
groups identified with disabilities at the
same rate as students from other ethnic
groups?
Important!!!!!
Correlation does
not prove
causality!
Quick Write
Who are you to be evaluating
published research? If an article
is published, that means the
results are facts, no? Consider
your standpoint on these ideas.
Small Group Activity:
Get into your cooperative research
design groups. Discuss the evaluation
criteria provided in chapters 1 and/or 2 of
McMillan and Wergin. Which ones do you
think that you need to keep for your paper
and presentation. Are there any that you
want to add that are specific for your kind
of study? Consider the information
presented over the previous few class
sessions as well.
Looking ahead…
 No class next week – Fall
Break!
 Oct. 20 small group work.
 Julia’s class outlines start
up again for week #12.
Mid-semester class
evaluation:
 Anonymous
 Formative
 Important!