Qualitative research is an inherent part of the human services profession, since it emphasizes the great and multifaceted complexity characterizing human experience and the sociocultural context in which humans act. In the department of human services at Emek Yezreel College, Israel, we have developed a three-phase model to ensure a relatively…

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…

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…

The role of the instructional materials center in evaluating materials is asserted and evaluation is defined as a media of compiling and analyzing information. Four evaluative methods are explained: field testing and comparing results; assessing rationale; measuring attitudinal and motivational variables; and describing the material and its use. A…

Based on field studies in five East Asian societies, the paper has three research agendas of portraying mass tutorial schools. The first is to depict those similarities and differences between functioning, infrastructure and popularity of East Asian tutorial schools by means of a 3-layered cultural model and six descriptive indicators. The second…

By using small-scale artificially created archaeologic sites, a teacher can provide students with a time-efficient approach in which to master some basic archaeological techniques. In an artificially created setting, the students can become familiar with conditions they might meet in the field. In a short period of time, students may be exposed to…

Concludes that if we do find ourselves in a situation of multiple paradigmatic perspectives on educational research, then it is not appropriate to think in the near future of there being a 'ground synthesis' of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. If the two major paradigms do exist as outlined here, and neither finds its present framework…

Laboratory simulations combine the strengths of lab experiments and field studies while avoiding many of their liabilities. They permit the emotional involvement, the time needed for development of norms and interlocked systems of interaction, and the broad range of variables typical of field settings, yet allow for experimental controls and…

Three aspects of educational research have hindered a truly scientific approach--artificially simple laboratory settings, a reliance on post hoc computer analysis, and the rule of the contract office. A more scientific setting might be created if three requirements are satisfied: (1) research should be carried out in life situations; (2) focus…

This document contains reports examining research designs for Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) usage studies at three levels: (1) system operations; (2) subscribers to the services provided; and (3) the ultimate "end-users" of the service. The first level report, which addresses ERIC as an information network, proposes two…

The eighth in a series of publications dealing with aspects of intercultural communication, this volume focuses on approaches to intercultural communication research. The 16 chapters of the volume are arranged into three sections: diverse approaches to research, quantitative approaches, and qualitative approaches. Specific chapters discuss the…

The purpose of this field study was to determine the effect of using achievement motivation simulations on the vocational development of high school students. Two hundred 10th grade students from four Washington, D. C. schools were randomly divided into a control and an experimental population. The control population remained in the regular…

This book contains eight papers examining the evidence from three field experiences in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington that were conducted to identify the impact of reemployment bonuses on the following indicators characterizing the unemployment insurance (UI) program: weeks of UI receipt during the benefit year; dollars of UI received…

Patterns of problem-solving activity in one middle-class urban high school are examined and a problem solving model rooted in a conceptual framework of contingency theory is presented. Contingency theory stresses that as political, economic, and social conditions in an organization's environment become problematic, the internal structures of the…