A Methodological Primer for Conducting Quantitative Research in Postsecondary Education at Lumina Foundation for Education

For the last thirty years, the rapid growth in information technologies has led to an absolute explosion in the production and diffusion of statistical software. With dropdown menus replacing meticulously written computer code, it now seems that literally anyone can run a three-way analysis of variance, perform generalized statistical tests for a proportional hazards model, or use varimax rotation to maximize the value of factor loadings. Despite the fact that a nuanced understanding of techniques like these takes years of theoretical study and empirical practice, aspiring quantitative researchers can now perform these procedures in a matter of minutes on such popular types of statistical software as SAS and SPSS. As a result, there has been a growing mismatch between what many quantitative researchers are able to do and what they are able to understand.