The "Handbook of Research Methods in Early Childhood Education" brings together in one source research techniques that researchers can use to collect data for studies that contribute to the knowledge in early childhood education. To conduct valid and reliable studies, researchers need to be knowledgeable about numerous research…

Examines the schism of values between qualitative and quantitative social science researchers. Focuses on some practical methodological issues which face researchers wishing to adopt a qualitative-interpretive approach. (JDH)

Advocating individualized instruction, this article provides a model for conducting research on individual student differences which teachers actually recognize and use to modify their instruction. Provides examples of how teachers accommodate individual differences in middle and junior high school classrooms. (JDH)

The study of the role parents play in the reading development of their children requires a methodology that is unobtrusive, humane, objective, and natural. Ethnography, with its corresponding technique of participant observation, offers these characteristics. The distinctive features of an ethnographic research design include: formulation of the…

Notes that one-semester field methods courses in sociology often lack adequate time for students to learn appropriate techniques and still collect and report their data. Describes how undergraduate students bypass this problem by using multiple observations of a single event to quickly form a corpus of ethnographic data. (JDH)

Describes how sociology students in undergraduate research methods are involved in conducting an annual poll for the university. The emphasis is upon interviewing as a general data-gathering method. Includes information about how useful research problems are determined and the process used to design and implement the poll. (JDH)

This paper discusses the utility of an ethnographic method that incorporates various participant observation techniques in providing information about family television viewing. It presents arguments for a naturalistic case study approach focusing on family-media interaction and suggests three methods of data collection: interviews and followups;…

Designed for presentation in three two-hour class periods, this five-unit module presents both a conceptual framework for the study and analysis of Indian communities and a guide to instructors in schools of social work for presentation of this framework to students in a classroom setting. Primary focus is upon federally recognized tribal…