This paper discusses the nature of research and identifies some of the questions which it is important to address at the planning stage and to return to throughout the life of any research study. In a discussion of the nature of research, it is noted that research findings must be potentially generalizable. The criteria for identifying research…

As part of a comprehensive review and analysis of research about the division of labor in higher education, a university library computer system was used to search the ERIC Index, Sociological Abstracts, and Psychological Abstracts. The purpose of these experimental searches was to determine whether online access to computer-held social science…

A comparison is made between the tools of observation and research used by journalists to study society and the media, and the qualitative and clinical research tools used in the social and psychological sciences. The first part of the paper, a journalistic approach to sociology, traces the notion of the sociologist as a super-reporter using…

Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT) is a network composed of events and activities, and a viable tool in developing a program for institutional research. The model contains three segments: internal and external research activities, and a system of data collection and retrieval. (Author/AJ)

With an emphasis on the problems of control of extraneous variables and threats to internal and external validity, the arrangement or design of experiments is discussed. The purpose of experimentation in an educational institution, and the principles governing true experimentation (randomization, replication, and control) are presented, as are…

This paper discusses the research methodology of the study "Alternative Patterns for Strengthening Community Service Programs" which examined programs in a large number of institutions of higher education. The first and major part of the paper deals with the use of case studies in generating data and communicating knowledge and feelings.…

The essays in this volume examine the use of the mass media and explore the findings of the gratifications approach to mass communication research. Part one summaries the achievements in this area of mass media research and proposes an agenda for discussion of the future direction of this research in terms of a set of theoretical, methodological,…

In a field such as instructional design, explanations of educational outcomes must necessarily consider multiple input variables. To adequately understand the contribution made by the independent variables, it is helpful to have a visual conception of how the input variables interrelate. Two variable models are adequately represented by a two…

A survey was conducted to evaluate tracking procedures used in longitudinal studies. The study grew out of an effort to locate part of a group used in a 1947-57 longitudinal study. A subsample of 320 was chosen from the 2,344 respondents already located. The tracking methods studied were mail, long-distance telephone calls, community visits and…

After four years of using simulation in the study of international relations, the authors have found it to be a potentially powerful research and teaching device. In this report they examine advantages, such as the ability it gives the researcher to manipulate experimental variables, and disadvantages associated specifically with the use of…

Recent attempts at defining reading are grouped into studies which report on or speculate about some aspect of the reading process, attempt to generate broad theories or models, or attempt to develop particular models or partial models on the basis of research. Six issues and concerns are then stated which appear as recurrent needs in literature:…

The concepts of credibility, attraction, power, and "homophily" (degree to which source and receiver are similar in certain attributes) have been investigated as independent and unrelated variables in the communication process. The authors seek to establish the relationship of these variables as subdivisions of the overriding concept…

Describes a physics course where students visit industrial and government scientific research laboratories. The aim is to familiarize the students with research tools available, and to make them understand the potentials, limitations, the functioning principles, and the design features of the instruments. (GA)

Single subject (N=1) research strategies deserve increased emphasis in the training of school psychologists. Single subject methodology has demonstrated credibility in research and in monitoring effects of professional interventions. Presented at the 8th Annual Convention of the National Association of School Psychologists in Kansas City, Kansas,…

Twelve linear algebra students were interviewed about the concept of a Solution of a System of Equations. The interviews were analyzed using APOS tools, in particular the ideas of Action, Process, Object and Schema, and Genetic Decomposition. The analysis of the interviews revealed several misconceptions of Solution. The analysis also revealed…