The focus of this document is upon zetetics, the science of research and artistic activity, and its role: to study the origin, growth, and transitions of human knowledge as a whole. The choice and allocation of subject matter within the curriculum is one of the central domains of expertise required of the general curriculum specialist. No matter…

Film audience research complements institutional research, verifying scholarship on the meanings films have to viewers and providing broad-based explanations of film images. Most important, such research focuses on the decision and motivation processes people use before they set foot in the movie theater, thereby helping to construct a context…

Quantitative racism is defined as the intentional or unintentional misuse of statistical and quantitative methods to show some kind or type of ethnic superiority, usually with respect to black-white differences. This essay identifies some fallacious applications of statistical methods common to a number of recent studies in the behavioral…

An analysis is provided of institutional research conducted by community colleges in an effort to draw conclusions about appropriate standards for different types of studies. The paper focuses on four categories of research: (1) research conducted to fulfill external reporting requirements and to influence policy at state and federal levels; (2)…

A critique is presented of naturalistic inquiry as a scholarly activity or as an alternative research paradigm directed toward extending knowledge of physical education curriculum and instruction. Four questions are posed: (1) What is the value perspective of naturalistic inquiry? (2) What are the phenomena of interest? (3) What are the…

Five research studies dealing with spelling achievement in New Zealand schools have been conducted; these include dictated-word spelling tests, written language studies, and achievement data collections of 20,000 students. Several conclusions emerge from an examination of this research: spelling achievement studies should be based on samples of…

Suggestions for broadening the utilization of evaluation research findings are discussed. Major program changes, based on evaluation, may not become obvious for several years; program actions may contradict findings and still be based on rational decision making processes; evaluation findings may have far-reaching effects which were not recognized…

An evaluator-manager interaction model is developed for predicting the impact of evaluation and research findings. Instruments are developed for measuring the variables of interpersonal involvement, impact of evaluation, and managerial style in the relationship between evaluator and manager. The hypothesis advanced suggests that evaluators can…

This study examined "participatory" approaches to the conduct of educational research, development, dissemination, and implementation (RDD&I) programs within the Far West Laboratory. Approaches that are "participatory" involve the participation of educational practitioners in the program. Various types of participation were investigated to…

This paper was presented at a symposium concerned with the results of research on teacher effectiveness and the procedures which might be used to review such research. The first part of the paper describes Rosenshine's research review procedure and analyzes the logic used to group research reports. Three possible standards which might be…

The effective utilization of research and development products ranks as one of the top priorities in American public education. The document contains two concept papers by recognized authorities on knowledge utilization activities: A Diffusion Mechanism for the Center for Vocational and Technical Education, Egon G. Guba; and Alternative Diffusion…

Feedback is discussed in relation to measuring the change process, a three-step procedure of dialogue, decision-making, and action-taking. Measurement problems resulting from feedback are presented. (AG)

The findings of this study suggest that (1) the previous track-record (how well teachers have performed differentially with groups of students having different learning rates) helps to predict how well teachers will do with students in their regular classrooms and (2) matched teacher/classrooms produce significantly higher achievers than do…

Evaluation Research Society members (n=160) assessed the attributes of research that produce credibility. The study focused on the acceptability of no-difference findings. Randomization, statistical power, number of measures reported, and equivalent groups were tested to determine their influence on acceptability of both no-difference and…

Describes theoretical developments that have guided the interpretation of findings in a large-scale study of the development of aggression over 22 years. As the data have accumulated, they have been found to be relevant to operant formulations as well as to social learning theory and cognitive behaviorism. (Author/VM)