The development and testing of an instrument used to measure the five major societal functions of schooling are described. These functions, as defined by William Spady, include: custody or control over students, course selection, student evaluation and certification, instructional processes, and socialization. The following sequence of events took…

Project "Freestyle" involved the development of prototypical television and print materials intended to combat sex-role stereotyping in career-related attitudes of nine to twelve-year-old children. In the first 16 months of the project an assessment was made of the reactions to three pilot shows among students, teachers, administrators,…

Methodology related to Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development has been continuously refined by creation and evaluation of additional research instruments. Instruments have been tested at summer scoring workshops presented by Kohlberg and his staff at the Center for Moral Education, Harvard University, in 1972, 1973, and 1976. Instruments…

Issues associated with the evaluation of 61 educational curriculum units, which was conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) are described. The units were adapted to the AIR Career Education Curriculum framework by creating 133 instructional units within which students could develop career skills in an orderly sequence. The…

This report concerns the field procedures and data analysis being used in the New York City Infant Day Care Study, a large-scale longitudinal study examining publicly-funded, community-controlled group and family day care programs in New York and comparing the effects of these programs and of home rearing on children and their families. Children's…

The purpose of this investigation was to identify those demographic and programmatic (independent) variables which were the best predictors of student success in a remedial program, as measured by four different criterion (dependent) variables: grade point average, persistence, increase in internality in locus of control, and increase in…

Discusses issues relating to the reliability, validity, utility, and information value of unobtrusive testing of library reference services; provides suggestions for practical applications of these criteria; applies study findings to library decision making and planning; and identifies topics for further methodological refinement. (Author/CLB)

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a random digit dial telephone survey of households developed by the National Center for Education Statistics. It has been conducted in 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1996, with varying components each year. The NHES 91/93/95/96 CD-ROM contains an electronic codebook (ECB) program that, after being installed…

Maintains that the need for gathering sensitive information frequently arises in planning and implementing organizational surveys. Describes methods of designing the instrument format and the mode of data collection. Provides a description and process summary of the Randomized Response Technique (RRT). (CFR)

Proposes a broad analytical framework in the study of immigrant naturalization that incorporates an immigrant's individual characteristics with the larger social contexts in the country of origin and the country of destination to explain the likelihood of citizenship acquisition. Results testing of this framework show that such considerations are…

Discusses methodological issues in cross-cultural studies of diverse communities, including language problems, data collection and analysis, sample size, and dissemination of findings. A study of the information-seeking behavior of ethnolinguistic gatekeepers in several communities in California is described. Suggestions are given for public…

There are increasing numbers of traditional biologists, untrained in educational research methods, who want to develop and assess new classroom innovations. In this article we argue the necessity of formal research over normal classroom feedback. We also argue that traditionally trained biologists can make significant contributions to biology…

Educational research has shown that technology can enhance student acquisition of discrete skills through drill and practice. This document describes the research design of a study that examined whether technology could provide significant support for constructivist, project-based teaching and learning approaches. The study also identified the…

The guide is based on project reports by the San Francisco Department of Public Health to improve and monitor perinatal health and children's health. These reports demonstrated the potential of information to help community advocacy groups, service providers, and program planners identify priorities for policy decisions and resource allocation.…

This article discusses the expression of gratitude in spoken English by Japanese and American college students in the United States. Five hypotheses were tested: (1) Advanced non-native speakers would find expressing gratitude difficult in the target language; (2) A verbal expression of regret would occur whenever the Japanese speaker believes he…