Discusses methodological issues concerning qualitative research and describes research practices that qualitative researchers use to address these methodological issues. Topics discussed include the researcher as interpreter, the emergent nature of qualitative research, understanding the experience of others, trustworthiness in qualitative…

Examination of the relationship between environmentalists and scientists concludes that environmentalism has had little impact on science. Topics discussed include the degree to which scientific research has become more applied; efforts to integrate and coordinate research projects; the synthesis of scientific information for policy purposes; and…

Provides advice for graduate researchers on how to get a research project started, research committee relations, design of the research project, keeping motivated, managing time, maintaining momentum, and safeguarding mental health during the research process. It is noted that the advice would be particularly useful for the completion of doctoral…

R. T. Ogawa and B. Malen's article does not meet its own recommended standards for rigorous testing and presentation of its own conclusions. Use of the exploratory case study to analyze multivocal literatures is not supported, and the claim of grounded theory to analyze multivocal literatures may be stronger. (SLD)

This article describes the multielement design, often recommended in single-subject research, and discusses its advantages and disadvantages for research in early intervention with handicapped children. The article concludes that the multielement design has many advantages, though multiple treatment interference is an issue of concern. (JDD)

Discusses ethnographic studies in business and technical writing, noting that ethnography comprises four essential, overlapping contexts: the phenomenal context, the site's cultural context, the research community context, and the researcher's interior context. Claims ethnographic accounts should balance the input of each of these areas rather…

Discusses motivations for research replications and makes recommendations for appropriate research strategies. Illustrates research strategies in a review of studies replicating a 1948 study by Soviet psychologist Z.M. Istomina on preschoolers' memory. Concludes that none of the studies closely replicated Istomina's methods, but some replicated…

Presents sample research designs for the investigation of questions concerning resilience. Describes hypotheses from specific research designs in the form of odds ratios. (Author)

Presents the personal opinions of four educators on the question of whether educational research is worthwhile. (YDS)

Researchers and educators sometimes need to be reminded of the broad range of factors which have a crucial impact on how writers write. This paper offers a personal checklist of six factors which have been shown to be important, yet which are easy to forget in in heat of research because of the tendency to become immersed in a particular agenda…

This paper discusses the problems of conducting research on a low-base rate sensitive family problem, parental child snatching, and proposes that telephone interviewing is a cost efficient and methodologically appropriate solution to these problems. The paper reviews the scant literature on parental child snatching by presenting what are…

Research with older persons suffering from physical illness presents numerous challenges to gerontologists. Issues of conceptualization pertaining to the definition of illness, its location in the research paradigm, and the context in which illness occurs must be addressed prior to dealing with methodological problems. Access to physically ill…

This symposium paper looks at three paradigms for naturalistic research on visuals: the positivistic, the interpretive, and the critical approaches. Discussion centers on questions of epistemology, such as "What do you mean?" and "How do you know?" The place of naturalistic inquiry within this discussion is indicated, and…

"Child as cultural apprentice" is a developmental psychologist's heuristic metaphor which is embedded in an individual-socioecological frame of reference. A basic theoretic feature of this metaphor is the explicit recognition of the interdependence of the process of child development and the socially provided resources for that…

Designed to identify sources for planning longitudinal evaluation strategies, this paper provides an overview and bibliography of resources regarding vocational follow-up and presents a conceptual model for longitudinal program assessment. Introductory material highlights major works in the area of vocational program assessment and summarizes the…