Ethnography is a research methodology that belongs to a genre of research called by various names, including educational anthropology, participant observation, case study, field study, and naturalistic inquiry. Ethnography was used as the research methodology for a nine-month study of adult beginning readers in Virginia. The research design was a…

Conference papers and discussions presented in this volume reflect recent research results that suggest the human infant is not a tabula rasa but an organism endowed at birth with an array of capabilities. Contents focus on several issues, including the possibility that infants have a rich affective life from their earliest days and that even…

The effects of bilingual education and programs for students who are not native speakers of English have not been researched thoroughly enough to provide sufficient, accurate, and meaningful evidence that will support litigation. Accordingly, this paper provides a historical review of the role of litigation in obtaining educational equity for…

The paper identifies and addresses four methodological weaknesses common to most previous studies that have used LISREL confirmatory factor analysis to test for the factorial validity and invariance of a single measuring instrument. Specifically, the paper demonstrates the steps involved in: (1) conducting sensitivity analyses to determine a…

Comparisons between whites and blacks in models of educational achievement were found to be suspect when based solely on least-square estimates, since the estimates are biased by measurement error varying by race. In this study, white high school seniors were shown to report their parents' status characteristics more reliably than black high…

A meta analysis of 93 research reports on school desegregation and black achievement was conducted to determine (1) why the study results differed as to apparent desegregation effects; and (2) whether some desegregation plans produced greater achievement gains than others. An analysis indicated that inconsistencies in research findings were mainly…

Alcohol education and rehabilitation programs are widely accepted as an integral part of the enforcement of drunk driving laws; however, careful evaluations of these programs generally fail to show subsequent beneficial effects on traffic crashes. This fact is due in part to the many barriers to conducting sound program evaluations and in part to…

Curriculum planners and career educators are advised to review the literature on infusion with this question in mind: "Does the integration of career education into the regular secondary classroom make a difference in student learning of subject matter and career information?" The philosophy and objectives of career education infusion were…

Basic issues concerning interpretive research, and theories and methods of using interpretive research to study teaching are discussed. The concept of interpretive research may also be known as ethnographic, qualitative, participant observational, case study, symbolic interactionist, phenomenological, or constructivist. Interpretive research…

This study reexamines results reported by Angoff and Schrader regarding formula directions and rights directions for standardized tests. In that study, it was concluded that the two scoring directions were essentially equivalent. In this study, methodological concerns are discussed and additional data analyses undertaken. Among various…

Eighteen essays discuss applications of geographic research covering a variety of topics and methodologies. All authors are faculty, graduates, or graduate students of the geography department at Michigan State University. The most frequently discussed themes include economic, political, social, and medical uses of geographic research. Two papers…

A group of high school self-reported dropouts and a group of simulated high school dropouts were compared with graduates in their participation rates, efforts required for data collection, and the overall quality of their responses in the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. The results indicate that dropouts are less…

This literature review examines the utilization of community needs assessment data in program planning and evaluation efforts at community colleges. The review first defines and looks at the purposes of community needs assessments, noting that while such studies are purported to facilitate the planning and evaluation of credit and non-credit…

Private education as an area of study offers many opportunities to educational researchers. Four types of research that would include private education are discussed and examples of research possibilities under each type are offered. The first type involves fundamental educational processes. Suggested are studies of the effects of various levels…

This report presents papers, analyses, and recommendations of a five-day workshop held to explore the relationship of education and youth employment. Five papers delivered at the meetings are included: "Current Assumptions on the Nature and Purpose of Secondary Education and Its Relation to Education 16-19," by Edmund King; "Review…