Online Submission

Structured Abstract Elements

Element names marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. Enter data for other elements, as appropriate.

Background*
Statement concerning the context of the study or the problem it addresses; summarizes a trend, presents a statistic, or reports the state of the art in some area to explain why it is important.

Example:
Ninety percent of the fastest-growing jobs require postsecondary education, and fewer than half of U.S. students graduate from high school ready for college-level math and science. Expanding access to Advanced Placement courses has been proposed as one means of improving mathematics preparation.

Citation*
The reference you wish others to use when referring to this document. Provide author, date, title, and other identifying information (for example, the name of the conference at which a paper was presented, or the institution granting a dissertation) using a standard citation style, such as APA.

Tip:
This is a text field and will not accept italics, underscoring, or other special formatting. Titles may be entered using quotation marks.

Conclusions*
Descriptions of conclusions and recommendations of author(s) based on findings and overall study. Be careful not to over-generalize. Conclusions should be warranted by the study and data.

Example:
Reading skills of 3rd graders can be significantly improved through instruction in word-level skills, but this type of instruction does not appear to improve the reading skills of 5th graders.

Control or Comparison Condition
Description of what, if anything, the control group received or participated in while the other group(s) received or participated in intervention(s). Indicate how study group members who did not receive the intervention were treated.

Example:
Control families could participate in any educational and social services to which they were entitled, but they were not allowed to participate in Even Start for one year.

Data Collection and Analysis
Clear description of how and when outcomes were measured, including any instruments used, when data were collected, and statistical methods used to analyze data.

Examples:
Quantitative study
The main analysis of STAR (class size) outcomes consisted of four cross-sectional analyses, one at the end of each school year. The statistical methods were variations of common confirmatory procedures for evaluating experimental outcomes, for example, analysis of variance, multivariate analysis of variance, and analysis-of-covariance procedures. In addition to tests of significance, effect size measures were derived each year for all students and for white and minority students separately.

Qualitative study
Data were collected in two ways: through document reviews of meeting minutes, work plans, work logs, reports, and newspaper articles; and through semi-structured interviews with 22 individuals involved in the program. Data were coded by theme and analyzed.

Findings*
Presentation of the study results (Estimates of intervention's effects on outcomes being measured and any estimates of effects on subgroups within the study sample).

Example:
Full-day kindergarten attendees scored significantly higher in math and reading on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and had fewer absences than half-day children. Fewer children from the full-day cohort were retained in grade. There were no differences in special education referrals.

Intervention
Clear description of the intervention implemented and how (if applicable) it differed from what the control/comparison group received. Include concrete details so that a reader wishing to replicate the study would know exactly what to do.

Example:
Each of the schools was randomly assigned to use one of four reading interventions: Spell Read P.A.T., Corrective Reading, Wilson Reading, and Failure Free Reading. Corrective Reading and Wilson Reading were modified to focus only on word-level skills. Spell Read P.A.T. and Failure Free Reading were intended to focus equally on word-level skills and reading comprehension/ vocabulary. Teachers received 70 hours of professional development and support during the year. Instruction was delivered in small groups of 3 students, 5 days a week, for a total of 90 hours.

Purpose*
What the research focused on and/or why. Try converting your research questions to statements. Start with a verb phrase such as:

To evaluate
To measure
To examine
To review
To investigate

Example:
To assess the effectiveness of four remedial reading programs in improving the reading skills of 3rd and 5th graders, whether the impacts of the programs vary across students with different baseline characteristics, and to what extent can this instruction close the reading gap and bring struggling readers within the normal range-relative to the instruction normally provided by their schools.

Research Design*
The structure or methodology used in a research project to address a defined set of questions

Tip:
Occasionally, one term will not suffice to describe the research design. Select the terms that accurately depict the study.

Term	Definition
Descriptive	Measuring the central tendency or dispersion of variables.
Correlational	Measuring the association between different variables.
Experimental	Using random assignment to either a treatment group or a control group to measure the impacts of an intervention (or of access to an intervention) on outcomes.
Quasi-Experimental	using a treatment group and a comparison group, chosen in some way other than random assignment, to estimate the effects of an intervention on outcomes.
Single Subject	Measuring the effect of an intervention by applying it to, and removing it from, one individual or group over time.
Longitudinal	Measuring outcomes over time to understand development and/or change among individuals or groups.
Cross-Sectional	Measuring outcomes at a single point in time to ascertain differences across groups.
Statistical Modeling	Application of regression or other statistical techniques to describe and correlate variables, make causal inferences, and/or make predictions.
Statistical Survey	Quantitative data collection entailing the systematic questioning of a sample of people and the recording of structured responses for analysis.
Other Quantitative	Research design other than those above that relies on statistical analysis of structured data such as administrative records.
Statistical Synthesis	Meta-analysis; quantitative summary of pooled data from comparable studies.
Narrative Synthesis	review of literature on a topic, including methodologies used, samples or populations studied, findings established, and any limitations or caveats.
Qualitative	Study relying on data collection through interviews, focus groups, document review, or direct observation.
Interview	Qualitative, semi-structured data collection technique involving the gathering of open-ended responses to questions.
Epidemiological	Relating to factors affecting the health of individuals and populations.
Brain Imaging	Cognitive or neuroscience method that uses techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging to analyze how the brain functions.

Setting
Place and time the study was conducted. Briefly describe the institutional setting, location, and time period of the study.

Examples:
A Head Start program in the coastal region of North Carolina between 2001 and 2005.
Or
Elementary schools in 27 districts of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit outside Pittsburgh, PA during the 2003-04 school year.

Study Sample
Number of sample members and information on relevant demographic variables (e.g., age, education level, race, gender, achievement, program participation). Include both control and experimental groups in this field if appropriate. Provide pertinent descriptive details related to subgroups.

Examples:
15 Native American students who had recently completed a degree at a tribal college; 15 matched subjects who dropped out before degree completion.
Or
Within each of 50 schools, 3rd and 5th grade students were identified as struggling readers by their teachers. These students were tested and were eligible for the study if they scored at or below the 30th percentile on a word-level reading test and at or above the 5th percentile on a vocabulary test. The final sample contains a total of 742 students. There are 335 3rd graders - 208 treatment and 127 control students. There are 407 5th graders - 228 treatment and 179 control students.