Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning and the Education Commission of the States
February 2004
This report can be seen as an introductory course on the methods used by education researchers and as a guide to basic statistics. Its purpose is to help the non-statisticians among us decipher and appraise research reports. It points out a number of common pitfalls that often snag lay readers of stats-heavy writing and helps explain how to avoid them. For example, when drawing conclusions about research, it's important not to assume that correlation equals causation, to apply research results to a setting that differs from the tested environment, or to rely overmuch on conclusions drawn from small sample sizes (which can produce statistically insignificant results). The guide is easy to read, avoids excessive detail and has a handy index of terms. Those who study education but lack a quantitative background may want it on their shelves. This is the second in a series funded by the Department of Education to "improve the connection between research and policy" (We reviewed the first, Eight Questions on Teacher Preparation: What Does the Research Say?, at http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=110#1383.) You can find this new resource online at http://www.ecs.org/html/educationIssues/Research/primer/index.asp.
