Discusses common beliefs and flaws in classroom research. Distinguishes among three kinds of empirical educational investigations. Suggests research designs which are considered to be sensible, selective, sound, sensitive, and simple. Describes designs using multiple classrooms for instructional-intervention experiments. (KS)

Discusses two approaches to data analysis in pretest-posttest research designs in which researcher has not formed groups based on pretest or used pretest information in assigning participants to groups, thus ruling out two-way analysis of variance. Describes use of repeated-measures analysis of variance and two-group analysis of covariance in…

Argues that a definition of interactional argument based primarily on disagreement should be rejected in favor of a more traditional definition based on reason giving. Argues that views of ordinary arguers need not be given priority over those of experts. (SR)

Rejects Robert Rowland and J. Kevin Barge's conclusion (in an article in the same issue) that defining argument as reason giving is superior to defining argument as disagreement. Maintains that defining argument as disagreement is appropriate for an interpretive argumentation theorist, and that argumentation is a complex topic with room for more…

Addresses Pamela Benoit's response to an article in the same issue by the authors, restating key arguments of why a research focus on reason giving is superior to a research focus on disagreement. (SR)

Responds to Sarah J. McCarthey's article in the same issue. Considers particularly the limitations of McCarthey's research design. (HB)

Notes inconsistencies in drug abuse prevention research findings related to such issues as study design and methodology. Presents consensus recommendations made by drug abuse prevention researchers and practitioners who met at National Institute on Drug Abuse in 1989. Includes specific recommendations directed to modifying prevention approaches;…

Reflects briefly on how the author chooses what research to do. Discusses specific communication research projects that arose from near-sighted, midrange, and far-sighted planning. (RS)

Asserts that cross-cultural comparison serves a crucial function as a final test of paradigms emerging from intracultural studies of child and adolescent adjustment and maladjustment. Argues that cross-cultural research's doorkeeper function is best performed when a wide range of cultures is sampled, for which core beliefs are measured directly…

Discusses the effects of sampling scheme selection on the admissibility of log-linear models for multinomial and product multinomial sampling schemes for prospective and retrospective sampling. Notes that in multinomial sampling, marginal frequencies are not fixed, whereas for product multinomial sampling, uni- or multidimensional frequencies are…

The importance and relevance of longitudinal research in learning disabilities is addressed, including its value in verification of appropriate hypotheses concerning particular developmental patterns and debunking of misconceptions. Examples from various longitudinal studies are given. (DB)

A teacher and a researcher provide alternate interpretations of the teaching and learning that occurred in an adult English-as-a-Second-Language classroom. They conclude that mutual collaboration must include all phases of a research project. (SK)

Discusses contemporary theories of adolescence, stressing developmental systems models that integrate individual and contextual levels of analysis. Maintains that adolescence should be studied with multivariate-longitudinal designs, change-sensitive measures, and data analytic strategies capitalizing on triangulation across quantitative and…

Describes recent developments in United Kingdom politics that have affected development of evidence-based policy for children. Examines the notion of "what works," leading to a suggestion that evaluators be concerned with "what is worth doing" for children. Considers robustness as a guiding principle for evaluation design and…

This article explores methodological issues arising from a research project that involved six people with learning difficulties in researching aspects of their own lives. These included how participants were included in data analysis and the researcher's role. It stresses the importance of the researcher listening to participants, taking time to…