Prevalence of Bayesian Methods in the Field of Education

• In Event: 56.064 - Research Methods in Educational Leadership

Abstract

A call for more robust statistical methods and less reliance on null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) has been made by editors and via publication guidelines. Bayesian methods have been shown to be a better alternative. Thus, the authors investigated the use of Bayesian analysis in 4 American Educational Research Association (AERA) journals over a 11-year period (2005-2015) and the prevalence of Bayesian coursework in top-ranked Educational Psychology programs. Bayesian methods were used in 8.7% of the 1,248 articles (4.4% empirical) and only 1 of the 11 programs required a course in Bayesian analysis. The lack of Bayesian analysis in published research likely could be addressed, in part, by an increase in the number of graduate programs offering Bayesian coursework.

Authors

• Peter Boedeker, University of North Texas

• Prathiba Natesan, University of North Texas

• Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Sam Houston State University