Stephen Zuniga
Email: szuniga@gseis.ucla.edu

Job title: Statistical Supervisor
Company/Organization. Center for Improving Child Care Quality (CICCQ).
Brief description of current role  Research on assessment and evaluation in early child development.
Year degree received  2005
Advisor:  Noreen Webb

Dissertation Title:   Defining the Unit of Measurement in Observational Data: Comparing Methods of Coding Student Behavior in Collaborative Group Work

Dissertation Abstract:   Although observational research of collaborative work includes coding behaviors using frequency-based or time-based methods, a comparison of the methods' predictive power does not exist. This study examined seven coding methods: Frequency of behavior, proportion of the frequency of a behavior, proportion of the frequency total interactions, duration of behavior, duration of behavior time, duration of total interaction time, and dichotomous coding. The coding methods were compared on their predictive power of help received, hearing justifications, and insulting behaviors on achievement. The results of correlations, regressions, and structural equation modeling showed that there was no practical difference between the coding methods.