This book is a guide is for school practitioners who want to know more about planning and conducting focus groups as an aid to decision-making. It emphasizes practical and cost-effective ways to ensure accurate results. After defining the focus group, chapter 1 offers ways focus groups can be used in schools and reasons for using them. Chapter 2…

This book describes how it feels and what it means to do qualitative research, and it provides support for doctoral students who choose this form of inquiry for their dissertation research. It serves as a guide to the processes and procedures involved in writing the qualitative dissertation. The reflections of research correspondents are the data…

This article explores two issues in conducting qualitative research: (1) the essentials of data collection, and (2) the unique role of the researcher in the data collection process. The author's own research study on use of health and medical information by various members of a classroom team for special education students is used to illustrate…

Teachers are being encouraged to use observational strategies for a variety of professional purposes in assessment and evaluation. Observation differs from just "looking" in that the personal experience of looking is transformed into a public event by the systematic recording of what is seen and by subsequent analysis and interpretation.…

Intended for students and for researchers who conduct interviews as part of case studies or as ethnography, this book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to the theory and practice of qualitative interviewing. It shows researchers how to design research based on interview data; to stimulate conversation; to absorb what is being said;…

Action research is, quite often, the method of enquiry employed by undergraduate and postgraduate students in higher education who are studying for accredited courses. In recent years, students studying for taught doctorate (EdD) degrees with their focus on practical aspects of education are also adopting action research as a method of study. This…

Proposes that ethnography is a useful tool for helping teachers understand the cultural context of their students. Examines a high school writing lab, emphasizing the role of the tutor. Describes the experiences of the writing lab staff in learning the culture of adolescents through ethnography. (RS)

Discusses the potential impact of computers in qualitative health research. Describes the original goals, design, and implementation of NUDIST, a qualitative computing software. Argues for evaluation of the impact of computer techniques and for an opening of debate among program developers and users to address the purposes and power of computing…

Suggests a method for translating graduate education in qualitative methods into undergraduate teaching. Focuses on intensive interviewing and its benefits for both graduate students and for undergraduate teaching as a means of bringing the subject into the real world. Discusses planning the interview assignment, developing interview questions,…

This paper addresses the conceptual issues of combining qualitative and quantitative methods in early intervention research by illustrating how two analytic approaches were used for different mixed-method purposes in the study of preschool inclusion. It describes practical strategies for conducting mixed-method data analysis in terms of data…

Evaluation can be crucial to help meet the needs and requirements of the teacher, students, and curriculum in distance education. Distance education usually encompasses a wide diversity of students, multi-site classrooms, little opportunity for interaction among students, and unfamiliar technology. Because of these uncertainties, evaluation of…

This article is designed to make qualitative research more understandable by providing details about the procedures that were used in one project to develop grounded theory. Interviews with 16 gifted students (grades 1-8) participating in pull-out programs found they were dissatisfied with the pace of their regular classroom. (Contains…

This article suggests the use of structural equation modeling in special education research, to analyze multivariate data from both nonexperimental and experimental research. It combines a structural model linking latent variables and a measurement model linking observed variables with latent variables. (Author/DB)

Discusses important factors to consider before deciding on hardware or software to use in building qualitative databases. Examines using the computer to store and retrieve text, store and retrieve graphics, analyze text, analyze graphic materials, distribute data stored on one machine to others, allow researchers access to data from remote sites,…

Claims that regardless of the dilemmas qualitative researchers face given the implications of postmodern critique, qualitative research elicits an understanding of communication practices in ways that other kinds of research cannot. Proposes a model of research practices to help researchers understand qualitative research as a social activity and…