While Mosenthal's Context Pyramid Model of Classroom Writing Contexts is a useful framework for guiding research on writing, it is argued that the model is actually a special case of earlier conceptual frameworks for research on memory and cognition by Jenkins and Bransford. (BS)

This paper first discusses methodologies employed in recent research on the composing process. It then presents results of that research in terms of the process and subprocesses of writing. It closes by discussing limitations of the methodologies and conclusions about the results. (Author)

Issues of reliability and validity in ethnographic design are compared to their counterparts in experimental design. Threats to the credibility of ethnographic research are summarized and categorized. Strategies intended to enhance credibility (study design, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of findings) are incorporated throughout…

The most common criticism of advance organizers is that their definition and instructions for construction are vague. Ausubel's books and research articles offer a precise operational definition. Construction can only be described generally because it varies according to nature of learning material, age of learner, and learner's degree of…

Responds to R. Slavin's best-evidence synthesis of research on mastery learning. Contends that at the heart of decisions about education are value judgments about how the mind should be cultivated and for what goal. (RB)

An assessment is provided of two papers responding to an article by P. Atkinson, S. Delamont, and M. Hammersley (1988) critiquing papers by E. Jacob (1987, 1988) on qualitative research traditions. Definitions of "tradition" and "research tradition," and the necessity to include British research in Jacob's meta-analysis are…

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)

A review is a tool of "recasting" of both literature and "the lived"--that location of social relations that mediates the recognition, reckoning, and witness of experience. The reviewer-researcher can be seen as a grammarian of the order, both handler and maker of the research tool. (SLD)

The criticism of the review of social competence and affective behaviors provided by D. Ferguson and P. Ferguson does not respond to the review so much as it presents a constructivist point of view about disabilities and inclusion and, as such, is a statement of an ideology rather than a critique of a review. (SLD)

The meta-analysis of J. Cameron and W. D. Pierce (1994), which purports to demonstrate that extrinsic rewards may not undermine intrinsic motivation, is unpersuasive by virtue of its methodologies, its tendency to ignore important distinctions, and its failure to include certain evidence. (Author/SLD)

Provides a critical analysis of the meta-analysis of J. Cameron and W. D. Pierce (1994) of the experimental literature on the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Their overly simplistic conclusion has little theoretical or practical value and results from misuse of meta-analytic procedures. (SLD)

Illustrated is the power of multidimensional scaling in reducing a complex set of proximity measures to a simple geometric picture that shows the relationship among data objects. Methods are discussed for determining the number of dimensions needed to represent a set. (Author/DEP)

Discusses R. Slavin's best-evidence synthesis method as an alternative to traditional meta-analysis and review techniques. Explains the inherent weaknesses of the technique Slavin uses and how the techniques can be misused. (RB)

The literature on school vandalism is reviewed, emphasizing strategies found successful in reducing school vandalism. It is interpreted in terms of three ideological orientations: conservative, liberal, and radical. Action research approach, which continually assesses strategy effects on a specific school system, is recommended for future…

Analysis of the research reported by R. J. Light and P. V. Smith in Harvard Educational Review, Social Allocation Models of Intelligence," v.30, 1969, p.484-510. (VW)