Person- and variable-centred quantitative analyses in educational research: insights concerning Australian students’ and teachers’ engagement and wellbeing

[Excerpt] Decreasing opportunities for education researchers in Australia to learn quantitative methods of analysis have been lamented by those who possess these skills and knowledges, and by policymakers seeking large-scale evidence to guide decision-making. This is not the case in contexts elsewhere, notably Germany, North America and Scandinavia, where structured learning opportunities are readily available. In Australia, the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Incorporated (‘ACSPRI’) was founded to address this gap, offering week-intensive courses periodically rotated among several Australian cities. Our Special Issue is one result of the efforts of a group of expert volunteers (outlined in the preface to this Special Issue) who presented workshops on a range of introductory to advanced forms of analysis for quantitative survey data in the 2017 ‘Quantitative Summit’, subsidised by an Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Strategic Initiatives Grant won by the Guest Editors of this Special Issue.