Attitude and opinion research requires considerable planning, careful design of survey procedures and sampling techniques, and practical ways of collecting, analyzing, and reporting results. The following suggestions are based on the extensive public opinion research conducted by the University of Alabama. (1) Decide what specific problem is to be…

Addressing the growing interest in qualitative research methodology, the paper describes the process and results of a team evaluation of a college day-care center. The purpose of the study was twofold: to conduct research which would provide team members an opportunity to develop skills in qualitative research methods and to assess the child care…

A study examined the effectiveness of research strategy instruction that is integrated with the demands of inquiry-based content-area projects, rather than the typical teaching of research-related skills out of context. The study was conducted at two elementary schools, one a Title I school with a high percentage of poor readers, the other a…

Information literacy is an set of acquired skills and strategies which encompass the abilities to recognize a need for information, to retrieve the required information, and to evaluate and utilize it effectively. Teaching students how to structure, acquire, analyze, and synthesize information must start much earlier than at the post-secondary…

The research process has been a constant feature of the curriculum in primary and secondary schools for many years. The purpose of this process has traditionally been to develop student research skills and to enhance their knowledge within a particular area. The Information Process diagram, developed by the Australian School Library Association in…

This paper describes a research project that examined the impact a mentoring program had on college faculty and students. The program was designed to provide a collaborative research experience for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The goals of the program were to assist graduate students in establishing mentoring…

Technical writing teachers and their students generally have a good grasp of grammar, mechanics, organization, and specific approaches to report writing for different situations. What they may lack is a procedure for educating themselves on technical subject matter. The following procedures can help without a special on-the-job training program:…

Current approaches to the research paper rarely emphasize more than secondary research in library collections and data bases. Instructors can help students expand their range of possible information sources by posing three questions: Who is likely to know about this? From where does information on this subject come? and, Who pays for this…

Female researchers conducting field research in educational politics encounter special problems of access, entry, reciprocity, and ethics. Accordingly, this study focuses first on field research methods in policy settings as a general topic, then on problems specific to women in this area. A researcher must be aware of informal coalitions or…

This paper offers criticism of rural education research methods, and identifies areas in need of more or better systematic inquiry. It suggests the need to increase the quantity of the highest quality of research and the need for researchers to reach policy makers and "mainstream" education journals more effectively. Five main problems…

Employers from a variety of job placement settings and disciplines were surveyed concerning the critical skills for the research and evaluation professional, implications for training, and future job prospects. The survey, conducted by Gallaudet University (Washington, D.C.), also examined attitudes toward hiring hearing impaired persons. Through…

The major goal of graduate education in speech communication is to advance knowledge about human communication through research and by training minds. Graduate education differs from undergraduate education because it emphasizes not only what we know, but how we come to know. Often, however, graduate education is just seen as being an extension of…

Information is presented on the role of research in the undergraduate psychology curriculum. The kind of research experiences undergraduates are provided and the importance of research experience to graduate school admission has been studied. Ninety-two percent of 60 randomly selected schools of five different types require an introductory…

An approach is described for teaching undergraduate sociology students social research skills through student use of packaged computer programs while carrying out their own research projects. Two back-to-back courses focus on training in data collection methodologies, followed by training in data analysis using the computer. In order to meet the…

This paper describes a variable-credit advanced writing course that allows non-English majors to set their own goals for writing and to develop specific writing skills that apply to their major fields. The course is a unitized sequence of three five-week sessions. The first session discusses the theoretical product model and process model for the…