Today, an increasing proportion of the school system budget is being spent in support of technology; and, the technology departments of schools are staffed with a growing team of both educators and technicians. Despite this growth, only a minority of state education departments has created licensing or certification credentials for instructional…

This paper outlines a qualitative research tool designed to explore personal identity formation as described by Erik Erikson and offers self-reflective and anonymous evaluative comments made by college students after completing this task. Subjects compiled a list of 200 myths, customs, fables, rituals, and beliefs from their family of origin and…

This presentation provides conceptual frameworks for understanding critics of educational technology; these frameworks are developed by using a series of concepts, approaches, and techniques of historical analysis from the area of intellectual history. The difference between study in the history of ideas and the history of culture is noted. The…

Although researchers and scholars have extolled the virtues of multi-method approaches to research by triangulation for at least two decades, implementation of these approaches to research has been slow. This is due primarily to the complexities inherent in the combination of different orders of data, theoretical constructs, and methodological…

The information that is gained through various analyses of the residual scores yielded by the least squares regression model is explored. In fact, the most widely used methods for detecting data that do not fit this model are based on an analysis of residual scores. First, graphical methods of residual analysis are discussed, followed by a review…

This paper explores the philosophical foundations and implications of fantasy theme analysis, introduced by Ernest B. Bormann in 1972. The paper rejects the appropriation of fantasy theme analysis as compatible with, or as support for the philosophical position of relativism and relativist rhetorical theories. Rather, it suggests that fantasy…

Using the viewpoint of semiotics, this paper "re-reads" Karl Marx's labor theory of value and suggests a "triple triangle" model for commodity production and shows how this model could be a model for semiosis in general. The paper argues that there are three advantages to considering homogeneity of the sign production and the…

Magnitude of effect (ME) statistics are an important alternative to statistical significance. Why methodologists encourage the use of ME indices as interpretation aids is explained, and different types of ME statistics are discussed. The basic concepts underlying effect size measures are reviewed, and how to compute them from published reports…

An important but too infrequently considered methodology that can be used in research, especially research focusing on Pearson's "r" (B. Walsh, 1996) or the multiple "R" (see B. Thompson, 1992) involves testing for moderator or mediator variable effects. As explained by M. Gall, W. Borg, and J. Gall (1996), moderator analysis…

This paper examines the possibility of a Kuhnian paradigm in research and theory in educational communications and technology. First, it analyzes Kuhn's model and the attraction of this model as a viewfinder. It turns to anthropology for explanation of beliefs and behaviors. Then it takes a critical look at use of the Kuhnian paradigm metaphor in…

Message processing literature could conceptualize process in one of two distinct ways: a single over-time process as described by J. N. Cappella, versus several processes as described by D. K. Berlo. An examination of literature finds that theories are based on both forms of these over-time processes. However, operationalization rarely measures…

To explore controversial findings concerning some of Piaget's claims, four experiments investigated conditions under which children use a criterion of movement in attributing life to objects. In the first experiment, children ages 4 through 7 participated in a recognition task involving the identification of objects to which they attributed life.…

The use of multivariate statistics in behavioral research is investigated, with emphasis on the reasons why multivariate methods can be so important. The concepts of testwise and experimentwise error are explained, and it is noted that multivariate methods can be used to control the inflation of experimentwise Type I error. It is also noted that…

The need for humanistically-oriented research may be viewed as the unfinished business of humanistic psychology. Additional research is needed to support some of the theoretical positions of humanistic psychology which have emerged from clinical practice, education, and management consultation rather than from laboratories and field studies. The…

The early and recent history of meta-analysis is outlined. After providing a definition of meta-analysis and listing its major characteristics, developments in statistics and research are described that influenced the formulation of modern meta-analytic methods. Major meta-analytic methods currently in use are described. Statistical and other…