Reporting explained variance

Abstract The importance of reporting explained variance (sometimes referred to as magnitude of effects) in ANOVA designs is discussed in this paper. Explained variance is an estimate of the strength of the relationship between treatment (or other factors such as sex, grade level, etc.) and dependent variables of interest to the researcher(s). Three methods that can be used to obtain estimates of explained variance in ANOVA designs are described and applied to 16 studies that were reported in recent volumes of this journal. The results show that, while in most studies the treatment accounts for a relatively small proportion of the variance in dependent variable scores., in., some studies the magnitude of the treatment effect is respectable. The authors recommend that researchers in science education report explained variance in addition to the commonly reported tests of significance, since the latter are inadequate as the sole basis for making decisions about the practical importance of factors of interest to science education researchers.