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Professor Stephen Gorard's Outputs (146)

Context and Implications Document for: Rethinking ‘quantitative’ methods and the development of new researchers (2015)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2015). Context and Implications Document for: Rethinking ‘quantitative’ methods and the development of new researchers. Review of Education, 3(1), 97-99. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3042

This guide accompanies the following article: Stephen Gorard. Rethinking ‘quantitative’ methods and the development of new researchers, Review of Education, DOI:10.1002/rev3.3041

A proposal for judging the trustworthiness of research findings (2015)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (online). A proposal for judging the trustworthiness of research findings

This paper offers a procedure for, and a description of the elements involved in judging how trustworthy a research finding is. The idea could be of value to the users of research evidence and to researchers themselves when setting out to create trus... Read More about A proposal for judging the trustworthiness of research findings.

An absolute deviation approach to assessing correlation (2015)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2015). An absolute deviation approach to assessing correlation. British journal of education, society & behavioural science, 5(1), 73-81. https://doi.org/10.9734/bjesbs/2015/11381

This paper describes two possible alternatives to the more traditional Pearson’s R correlation coefficient, both based on using the mean absolute deviation, rather than the standard deviation, as a measure of dispersion. Pearson’s R is well-establish... Read More about An absolute deviation approach to assessing correlation.

An Evaluation of the ‘Switch-on Reading’ Literacy Catch-up Programme (2014)
Journal Article
Gorard, S., Siddiqui, N., & See, B. (2015). An Evaluation of the ‘Switch-on Reading’ Literacy Catch-up Programme. British Educational Research Journal, 41(4), 596-612. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3157

This paper is based on one of the first completed studies funded by the Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF). EEF was set up in response to repeated demands for clearer evidence on school improvement. The paper presents the results of an intensive... Read More about An Evaluation of the ‘Switch-on Reading’ Literacy Catch-up Programme.

Is a summer school programme a promising intervention in preparation for transition from primary to secondary school? (2014)
Journal Article
Siddiqui, N., Gorard, S., & See, B. (2014). Is a summer school programme a promising intervention in preparation for transition from primary to secondary school?. International Education Studies, 7(7), 125-135. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v7n7p125

In England, some children have not reached what are considered to be expected levels in literacy and maths by the time they move from primary to secondary school. This is more likely for children living in disadvantaged areas. One proposal to address... Read More about Is a summer school programme a promising intervention in preparation for transition from primary to secondary school?.

Improving Literacy in the Transition Period: A Review of the Existing Evidence on What Works (2014)
Journal Article
See, B., & Gorard, S. (2014). Improving Literacy in the Transition Period: A Review of the Existing Evidence on What Works. British journal of education, society & behavioural science, 4(6), 739-754. https://doi.org/10.9734/bjesbs/2014/8417

Background: The transition from primary to secondary schools in England is marked by a concern over potential learning loss, and the realisation that a small number of students have not reached an expected or threshold level of literacy. The latter c... Read More about Improving Literacy in the Transition Period: A Review of the Existing Evidence on What Works.

Introducing the mean absolute deviation 'effect' size (2014)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2015). Introducing the mean absolute deviation 'effect' size. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 38(2), 105-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727x.2014.920810

This paper revisits the use of effect sizes in the analysis of experimental and similar results, and reminds readers of the relative advantages of the mean absolute deviation as a measure of variation, as opposed to the more complex standard deviatio... Read More about Introducing the mean absolute deviation 'effect' size.

Confidence intervals, missing data and imputation: a salutary illustration (2014)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2014). Confidence intervals, missing data and imputation: a salutary illustration. International journal of research in education methodology, 5(3), 693-698

This paper confirms that confidence intervals are not a generally useful measure or estimate of anything in practice. CIs are recursive in definition and reversed in logic, meaning that they are widely misunderstood. Perhaps most importantly, they sh... Read More about Confidence intervals, missing data and imputation: a salutary illustration.

The link between Academies in England, pupil outcomes and local patterns of socio-economic segregation between schools (2014)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2014). The link between Academies in England, pupil outcomes and local patterns of socio-economic segregation between schools. Research Papers in Education, 29(3), 268-284. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2014.885726

This paper considers the pupil intakes to Academies in England, and their attainment, based on a re-analysis of figures from the Annual Schools Census 1989–2012, the Department for Education School Performance Tables 2004–2012 and the National Pupil... Read More about The link between Academies in England, pupil outcomes and local patterns of socio-economic segregation between schools.

A proposal for judging the trustworthiness of research findings (2014)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2014). A proposal for judging the trustworthiness of research findings. Radical statistics, 110, 47-59

This paper offers a procedure for, and a description of the elements involved in judging how trustworthy a research finding is. The idea is of value to the users of research evidence and to researchers themselves when creating a synthesis of existing... Read More about A proposal for judging the trustworthiness of research findings.

Narrowing down the determinants of between-school segregation : an analysis of the intake to all schools in England, 1989–2011 (2013)
Journal Article
Gorard, S., Hordosy, R., & See, B. (2013). Narrowing down the determinants of between-school segregation : an analysis of the intake to all schools in England, 1989–2011. Journal of School Choice, 7(2), 182-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2013.791182

This article describes the social and economic “segregation” of students between schools in England, and the likely causes of its levels and changes over time. It involves a re-analysis of the intakes to all schools in England 1989–2011, and shows ho... Read More about Narrowing down the determinants of between-school segregation : an analysis of the intake to all schools in England, 1989–2011.

What difference do teachers make? A consideration of the wider outcomes of schooling (2013)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2013). What difference do teachers make? A consideration of the wider outcomes of schooling. Irish Educational Studies, 32(1), 69-82. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2013.773231

This paper is based on a series of previous research studies looking at the impact and development of teachers in the UK and internationally. It suggests that there is no convincing evidence, in terms of test outcomes, that some teachers are more or... Read More about What difference do teachers make? A consideration of the wider outcomes of schooling.

How stable are 'school effects' assessed by a value-added technique? (2013)
Journal Article
Gorard, S., Hordosy, R., & Siddiqui, N. (2013). How stable are 'school effects' assessed by a value-added technique?. International Education Studies, 6(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v6n1p1

This paper re-considers the widespread use of value-added approaches to estimate school ‘effects’, and shows the results to be very unstable over time. The paper uses as an example the contextualised value-added scores of all secondary schools in Eng... Read More about How stable are 'school effects' assessed by a value-added technique?.

The possible advantages of the mean absolute deviation 'effect' size (2013)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2013). The possible advantages of the mean absolute deviation 'effect' size. Social research update, 65(Winter 2013), 1-4

A range of ‘effect’ sizes already exists, for presenting a relatively easy to interpret estimate of a difference or change between two sets of observations. All are based on use of the standard deviation of the observations, involving squaring and th... Read More about The possible advantages of the mean absolute deviation 'effect' size.

The propagation of errors in experimental data analysis: a comparison of pre- and post-test designs (2013)
Journal Article
Gorard, S. (2013). The propagation of errors in experimental data analysis: a comparison of pre- and post-test designs. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 36(4), 372-385. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727x.2012.741117

Experimental designs involving the randomization of cases to treatment and control groups are powerful and under-used in many areas of social science and social policy. This paper reminds readers of the pre- and post-test, and the post-test only, des... Read More about The propagation of errors in experimental data analysis: a comparison of pre- and post-test designs.