A three-dimensional model designed to depict the interrelationships among evaluation procedures, development systems, and reward structures as they affect professional personnel is offered as a research tool in this paper. The model is intended to aid in describing and understanding the productivity of professional personnel and to enhance the…

Following the assumptions of ecological socialization research, adequate analysis of socialization conditions must take into account the multilevel and multivariate structure of social factors that impact on human development. This statement implies that complex models of family configurations or of socialization factors are needed to explain the…

Psychographic analysis--combining demographic and attitudinal characteristics into groups and looking at variations in those characteristics--is useful in newspaper research to expand theories of media publics. One effective segmentation strategy (used at Minnesota Opionion Research Incorporated--MORI) is to divide the population into four groups,…

As useful as LISREL may be in model estimation and testing, its most significant contribution to date is the encouragement and example it gives for right thinking about research and right planning of research. The encouragement to hypothesize the best possible model for the process that is the object of study, and to plan measurements that…

A study examined some of the questions that have been raised regarding D. A. Infante and A. S. Rancer's (1982) Argumentativeness Scale. Specifically, the wording of the scale was examined. Operating under the principle that the use of the process word "arguing" and the product word "argument," as well as mention of issues or…

Numerous forms and meanings of validity have been developed to provide researchers with the opportunity to assess the many potential sources of ambiguity that exist in any research finding. A Validity Network Schema (VNS) developed by Brinberg & McGrath (1982) is extended and elaborated in order to describe the components of the research…

Some distinct advantages in utilizing theory-oriented research as opposed to nontheoretic data gathering research are examined in this paper. Further, the need for theory-based research is suggested by defining the nature of theory and by reviewing two theory-oriented research developments. The funnel model of causality from the area of political…

Recent research on human memory and cognition with particular emphasis on research that might have some promise for mathematics education is reviewed. The focus is on techniques for analyzing the mind in two areas: (1) the architecture of the human memory system, using the information processing model; and (2) the content and structure of…

Simulation--here defined as a physical, procedural, or symbolic representation of certain aspects of a functioning system, or as a working model or representation of a real world system--has at least four areas of application: (1) training where the objective of simulation is to provide the trainee with a learning environment that will facilitate…

Through a review of the literature, this paper centers on the temporal analysis of communication behaviors in the study of social interaction. It argues that the choice of one or another temporal model of analysis and its underlying assumptions is highly related to the conclusions about social interaction that are found by the researcher. Although…

In a field such as instructional design, explanations of educational outcomes must necessarily consider multiple input variables. To adequately understand the contribution made by the independent variables, it is helpful to have a visual conception of how the input variables interrelate. Two variable models are adequately represented by a two…

After four years of using simulation in the study of international relations, the authors have found it to be a potentially powerful research and teaching device. In this report they examine advantages, such as the ability it gives the researcher to manipulate experimental variables, and disadvantages associated specifically with the use of…

This paper presents pretheory and theory for an approach to the study of intercultural communication and discusses the phenomenological basis of a theory of transaction, applying it to case study and comparative methods of analysis. The unit of analysis is denoted as an ABX paradigm and may be described as a communication dyad in a triadic…

An instrument for naturalistic observation in the childbirth environment is presented. Observable features of the parturient woman's physical state, stimulus contact she experiences, and themes of conversations with the woman are recorded using a system of categories to time-sample in cycles of 30 seconds for observing followed by 30 seconds for…

In order for researchers to develop principles for successful adult education, they must use both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The first step in developing principles for adult education is to describe education and practices through descriptive research that objectively quantifies and classifies aspects of practice. Through an…