Whether the goal is to identify and describe trends and variation in populations, create new measures of key phenomena, or describe samples in studies aimed at identifying causal effects, description plays a critical role in the scientific process in general and education research in particular. Descriptive analysis identifies patterns in data to…

This article focuses on five quantitative indicators for patents and scientific literature. These indicators characterize Japan as a technological powerhouse and in an expanding but far less powerful scientific position. Several tables and graphs are provided. (YP)

An evaluation of four seventeenth and eighteenth century essays on optics revealed early trends in the evolution of scientific articles. The later articles showed a growing tendency to (1) separate practice from pure knowledge, (2) organize information around problems of knowledge and theory rather than around chronological events, (3) emphasize…

This paper proposes basic guidelines for the publishing and preparation of manuscripts, with the focus on the publication of empirical research in scientific journals. It is assumed that research is complete only when the results are shared. The guidelines serve as standards, and cover all stages of publishing from the first review of literature…

Discusses the need for critical review of expert scientific findings used in the development of social policy. Uses the case of dissent from the Institute of Medicine's report on health care for the homeless to illustrate the conflict between scientific and practical moral objectivity. (FMW)