Statistical Techniques Used in Published Articles: A Historical Review of Reviews

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to provide a historical account and metasynthesis of which statistical techniques are most frequently used in the fields of education and psychology. Six articles reviewing the American Educational Research Journal from 1969 to 1997 and five articles reviewing the psychological literature from 1948 to 2001 resulted in a total number of 17,698 techniques recorded from the 12,012 articles reviewed. No prior study of analytic practices has considered this broad scope of time and articles. Trends are discussed for the education and psychology literature both individually and collectively.