The folklore surrounding research assistantships (the type of "research apprenticeship" that is held concurrently with a student's academic studies) must be investigated to determine what aspects of such experiences are most influential in motivating the assistant toward and preparing him for a productive research career. Unverified assumptions about the value of research assistantships impede the use of empirical analysis to advance knowledge about critical elements of research training. Research assistantships are not inherently valuable; rather, what a person does on his assistantship is related to what he does later in his career. Research assistants in education tend to engage in research significantly less than their counterparts in other fields. A dilemma basic to managing assistantships is the "conflict of interest" for the senior researcher needing help in menial tasks. Assistants themselves are ambivalent about the value of their work. If we accept the potential value of the research assistantship in training educational researchers and want to maximize it, then we need to accelerate assistantship opportunities, recruit students earlier in their program, and limit their tenure, assigning them primarily to research projects rather than to bureaus or individual faculty members. Their experiences should be planned and controlled by those most centrally involved in the conduct of research training programs. (Ten references are cited.) (JS)