This research study compared the effects of three instructional methods--collaborative synchronous online communication, asynchronous online communication, and independent study as traditional in grammar translation method--in English reading comprehension. A quasi-experimental research design included pre and post reading comprehension tests for…

Food and nutrition affect the course in physical development that our bodies will follow. Our emotional make-up and mental behavior may be influenced by diet, but the direct relationship between these aspects of development and nutrition needs further study. A new research approach is described. (Author/RH)

Argues that more attention should be given to the specification of the independent and dependent variables which describe, explain and predict intraindividual stability and change over time. Statistical techniques for such study are briefly discussed. (Author/SDH)

A procedure for testing heterogeneity of variance is developed which generalizes readily to complex, multi-factor experimental designs. Monte Carlo studies indicate that the Z-variance test statistic presented here yields results equivalent to other familiar tests for heterogeneity of variance in simple one-way designs where comparisons are…

The use of multiple regression as a data-analytic tool is examined for the cases of balanced and unbalanced designs. The utility of this method for testing specific contrasts, both orthogonal and nonorthogonal is discussed and some interpretive cautions are examined. (Author)

Designs for sequential sampling procedures that adapt to cumulative information are discussed. A familiar illustration is the play-the-winner rule in which there are two treatments; after a random start, the same treatment is continued as long as each successive subject registers a success. When a failure occurs, the other treatment is used until…

Phenomenological research is defined and discussed in terms of its purpose and procedures. Phenomenology deals with subjective consciousness. Phenomenological research probes into the human experience to illuminate the complexity of individual perception. It is aimed at interpretive understanding. The general design for research consists of three…

In this paper the role of qualitative research in special education is examined. The implications of an earlier naturalistic study are cited, an important one being the tendency in the literature to oversimplify the naturalistic paradigm; and the case is made that implementing such a paradigm is a "labor intensive" approach to research…

Attempts to account for discrepancies between results of the Hall and Kingsley experiment (1968), (in which the majority of college students did not resist extinction in a contrived instance of non-conservation of weight), and the Miller, Schwartz and Stewart experiment (1973), (in which the majority did resist extinction). (ED)

How discrete measures can be used for needs assessment. (HB)