Rating methodological quality: toward improved assessment and investigation

Assessing methodological quality is considered essential in deciding what investigations to include in research syntheses and in detecting potential sources of bias in meta-analytic results. Quality assessment is also useful in characterizing the strengths and limitations of the research in an area of study. Although numerous instruments to measure research quality have been developed, they have lacked empirically-supported components. In addition, different summary quality scales have yielded different findings when they were used to weight treatment effect estimates for the same body of research. Suggestions for developing improved quality instruments include: distinguishing distinct domains of quality, such as internal validity, external validity, the completeness of the study report, and adherence to ethical practices; focusing on individual aspects, rather than domains of quality; and focusing on empirically-verified criteria. Other ways to facilitate the constructive use of quality assessment are to improve and standardize the reporting of research investigations, so that the quality of studies can be more equitably and thoroughly compared, and to identify optimal methods for incorporating study quality ratings into meta-analyses.     

Dimensions Of Well-Being And Their Measurement: The Spf-Il Scale

What are the dimensions of well-being? That is, what universal goals need to be realized by individuals in order to enhance their well-being? Social production function (SPF) theory asserts that the universal goals affection, behavioral confirmation, status, comfort and stimulation are the relevant dimensions of subjective well-being. Realization of these substantive goals and the perspective on opportunities to realize these goals in the future contributes to the affective and cognitive component of well-being. The theoretical elaboration of this theory has been published elsewhere. This paper provides a measurement instrument for the dimensions of well-being. To measure levels of affection, behavioral confirmation, status, comfort and stimulation and empirically validate the dimensions of well-being, the SPF-IL scale was developed. This paper presents findings from a pilot study (n=145), the main study (n=1094), a test–retest examination (n=163), and a validation study (n=725). The measurement model was tested by means of structural equation modeling. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the dimensional structure of well-being indicating construct validity. The overall fit of the model was sufficient, in spite of the somewhat problematic measurement of status, and the test–retest study showed an acceptable level of stability. As for the content validity of the dimensions and their measurement, various sub-studies showed that the SPF-IL scale is a valid instrument, doing at least as well as popular measures of overall well-being but also specifying its dimensions.     

Business- oder Life-Coaching: Ist das die richtige Frage?

Three case studies are the basis for pointing out how a coaching may proceed to life–coaching. Some formal and methodical requirements for the consulting process are developed and possible central questions regarding the subsequent meta–level-dialogue are specified.     

Multivariate Kendall's tau for change‐point detection in copulas

Statistical procedures for the detection of a change in the dependence structure of a series of multivariate observations are studied in this work. The test statistics that are proposed are $L_1$ , $L_2$ , and $L_{\infty }$ distances computed from vectors of differences of Kendall's tau; two multivariate extensions of Kendall's measure of association are used. Since the distributions of these statistics under the null hypothesis of no change depend on the unknown underlying copula of the vectors, a procedure based on the multiplier central limit theorem is used for the computation of p‐values; the method is shown to be valid both asymptotically and for moderate sample sizes. Alternative versions of the tests that take into account possible breakpoints in the marginal distributions are also investigated. Monte Carlo simulations show that the tests are powerful under many scenarios of change‐point. In addition, two estimators of the time of change are proposed and their efficiency is carefully studied. The methodologies are illustrated on simulated series from the Canadian Regional Climate Model. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 41: 65–82; 2013 © 2012 Statistical Society of Canada     

Textbook Affordability in the Time of COVID-19

Abstract

This article provides a background of the textbook affordability problem affecting students attending United States higher education institutions, both prior to and during the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as potential solutions to the problem. Solutions discussed include the availability of open materials in online repositories, publisher responses like inclusive access, institutional incentive programs, and initiatives by library consortia or other statewide programs. The responses of various stakeholders to make textbooks accessible to students during the pandemic are also covered.     

The household inventory as urban ‘theatre’ in late medieval Burgundy

In 1413 at the death of his wife Guillemot, Jean Aubert, a group of witnesses and a clerk of the local mayoralty met to value the possessions of their residence, resulting in an inventory full of notes and values on rooms and their objects. Within the existing historiography of the Burgundian Netherlands and its northern European neighbours, inventories and their objects tend to be analysed from two perspectives: the Burgundian court and the ‘consumer revolution’. Applying insights from Erving Goffman and Bruno Latour, this article suggests a third perspective should have priority: the urban ‘theatre’ within which objects were documented and placed. Therefore it sets up an alternate methodology which begins with the inventory to build a picture of the theatre (the urban context and residence), the actors (the Aubert family) and the audience (the witnesses of the inventory) to establish new insights into the operation of Burgundian power and the dynamics of the ‘consumer revolution’.