Communities, Cameras, and Conservation (CCC) is the most exciting and valuable program the author has seen in her 30 years of teaching field science courses. In this citizen science project, students and community volunteers collect data on mountain lions ("Puma concolor") at four natural areas and public parks along the Front Range of Colorado.…

Three issues must be addressed when discussing the standards needed to judge the methodological rigor of naturalistic approaches to administrative research. The first issue involves defining naturalistic inquiry. In contrast to the scientific paradigm, naturalistic inquiry emphasizes, first, the inseparability of variables or events from their…

Methodological adequacy in naturalistic inquiry is enhanced by understanding the differences between the naturalistic and rationalistic paradigms; by using simultaneous data collection and analysis, with prolonged field research, an audit trail, multiple sources, and referential materials; and by employing "thick description" extensively…

This paper outlines some of the interview approaches and observational techniques that social scientists use in field study. Discussed are scheduled interviews, open-ended interviews, the delphi technique, participant observation, process observation, and lurking. (Author/AV)

The microcomputer offers social science field researchers a valuable tool for managing qualitative research data. In addition to the flexibility and efficiency of the microcomputer, the logic governing its programming and operation imposes a framework on the research process which necessitates that research decisions and strategies be explicit and…

This handbook, designed as a guide for new evaluators in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, provides an orientation to the "Discrepancy Evaluation Model" and a detailed outline of the administrative procedures necessary to conduct day-to-day activities in the first two stages of program evaluation. Guidelines for use during the first stage of…

A survey in education describes the present condition of an educational program and forms the basis for knowing what is happening in a particular school. This volume is intended to be a practical guide to school surveying in South Korea, but not a scholarly thesis on surveys. The emphasis is on field studies and how surveyors can perform a school…

One of a three-volume series concerning the development and testing of a model for determining the costs of vocational education programs and courses, this user's manual presents an overall conceptualization of the model and briefly describes each dimension. The data elements, organized into data collection instruments and recommended procedures,…

The purpose of this research was to develop and field test a new flowchart model prescribing specific operations for tryout and revision of prototype multi-media self-instructional treatments. The methods and results of the following four phases of the study are described: (1) design of a MK I flowchart model based on a review of the literature;…