This article addresses the issue of falling response rates in telephone surveys. To better understand and maintain respondent goodwill, concepts of psychological contract and respondent expectations are introduced and explored. Results of the qualitative study show that respondent expectations are not only socially contingent but also…

Administered a survey to 606 National Science Foundation-funded principal investigators and their institutions' representatives (n=91) to study responses to unethical research behavior. Scientists appear to perceive that they uphold their responsibility to respond through disclosures in the research community; administrators propose to report such…

A group of defenses of qualitative evaluation methods is examined, based on a hard relativistic interpretation of the work of Thomas Kuhn. A promising defense of qualitative evaluation may be found in a soft-relativist interpretation of Kuhn's analysis of the nature of scientific discovery. (Author/LMO)

Evaluation Research Society members (n=160) assessed the attributes of research that produce credibility. The study focused on the acceptability of no-difference findings. Randomization, statistical power, number of measures reported, and equivalent groups were tested to determine their influence on acceptability of both no-difference and…

The interviewer's role in gaining access to an elite respondent through a gatekeeper was studied, with a focus on interviewer characteristics that lead to success in achieving interviews. Data from a national survey of 2,451 physicians indicate the importance of interviewer experience in bypassing gatekeepers. (SLD)