Reviews the evolution of research over the past 25 years on sexual orientation and its effects on human development, concluding that gay and lesbian interests and behavior appear to result from a complex interplay of genetic, prenatal, and environmental influences. Notes that gender identity develops early, especially for males, and is difficult…

Reviews the controversy surrounding the work of Cyril Burt on the genetic contribution to mental ability and argues that the disparagement of Burt's results provides one of the most extraordinary cases of counterfeit charges in academic psychology. Suggesting genetic differences in brain size or intellect is politically incorrect. (SLD)

The posthumous condemnation of Cyril Burt destroyed his reputation and undermined his life's work on the genetic nature of differences in intelligence. Whether Burt falsified research findings or not, the real significance of the affair lies in what it teaches about scientific methodology and the fallibility of personal judgments. (SLD)

This article discusses preparation of research reports in light of how the information is likely to be evaluated and how the report contributes to the research process. The focus is on description, explanation, and contextualization of the study. Common issues related to interpretation of assessment studies are also highlighted. (SLD)

Sensitive topics raise issues of ethics, politics, and legal aspects of research. There is concern for participants' rights and groups who may be affected by research. Notes that some argue research funding tends to serve the interests of the powerful by excluding support for research on issues detrimental to their interests. (NL)

What is faith development? Can it be assessed? Which environments and experiences are most conducive to growth in faith? These are a few of the questions that the Faithful Change research project attempts to address. (Contains 1 table.)

This chapter discusses the "person approach" to studying developmental processes by focusing on the distinction and complementarity between this holistic-interactionistic framework and what has become designated as the variable approach. Particular attention is given to measurement models for use in the person approach. The discussion on the…

This study investigated the possible implications of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for employee expectations and satisfactions. Specifically, interest centered on the question of how perceptions of an organization's involvement in the resolution of current societal problems might relate to members' expectations of equitable job rewards and…

The impact of interest on specific quantitative and qualitative measures was studied by examining the relationship between interest in research methodology by education students and knowledge in the area. The "Study Interest Questionnaire" (Winteler and Sierwald, 1987) and a questionnaire on interest in empirical research methodology were…

This study was designed to provide insight regarding the psychological repercussions for students who repeatedly fail the Georgia Basic Skills Test (GBST), but are not identified as educationally handicapped. This criterion referenced test is designed to assess competency on designated minimum skills. A random sample of tenth graders were…

Five myths permeate the counseling and psychotherapy literature. Two of these myths concern the absolute and differential effects of counseling and psychotherapy. Contrary to the conclusions of Smith and Glass's (1977) meta-analysis, it has not been established that aggregated counseling and psychotherapy schools are effective at all, much less…

Children with histories of high and low exposure to television (and the violence therein) were exposed to a moderately violent film. Measures of autonomic response (skin conductance and blood volume pulse amplitude) were taken before and during their exposure to the violent film. Over both measures and in another replicated study, the high TV…

The author is concerned with the role of preconception in the process of creative thinking, and as a psychologist, he experimented to determine what variables influence creative thinking. In the process of experimentation, however, he began to feel that some specific preconceptions were warping his investigation and were detrimental to a useful…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of part of a comprehensive research project concerning the Finnish matriculation examination. The goal of the project was to explore the matriculation examination as a series of tests indicative of ability differences between individuals, regardless of their causes. The…

The convergent validity between the following measures was investigated: use of accomplices, imaginary accomplices, feltboard, disguised questionnaire, and undisguised questionnaire. The first four measures yielded corresponding results. Subjects' awareness proved to be an important methodological consideration. Results were not affected by the…