Issues of Research Design and Statistical Analysis

This chapter examines issues that often arise when empirical approaches are used to study the impact on students participating in service-learning. The focus is on methodology rather than results and on student outcomes rather than school, site, or community outcomes. Studying an educational program such as service-learning is difficult, especially when one tries to apply traditional methodologies. Unlike many educational innovations or reform programs, service-learning is not a specific program with identifiable characteristics. Rather, service-learning is an approach to teaching and learning that is given meaning by the school or organization where it is based. It is this challenge that faces researchers: to develop studies that account for the tremendous variability across and even within programs. [author]