The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) represents teachers and researchers of composition and communication in all possible genres, media, contexts, and exigencies; for the purpose of these guidelines, "writers" and "writing" will be all-encompassing, and the term "researcher" will refer to…

Reviews research on teaching and makes an appeal for involving classroom teachers as field workers and partners in applied pedagogical research. Covers difficulties involved with such an approach, the need for replication, teacher training and the problem of generalization. (JDH)

Provides an introduction to the theme of this issue, the limits of educational research methodology. Advocates a combination of research methodologies and identifies three approaches to educational research. Includes sections on the nature of research and common research problems. (JDH)

Examines the schism of values between qualitative and quantitative social science researchers. Focuses on some practical methodological issues which face researchers wishing to adopt a qualitative-interpretive approach. (JDH)

This article identifies some of the unique characteristics of qualitative research, enumerates its areas of weakness, and offers solutions for overcoming these weaknesses. Concludes that the criticisms leveled at qualitative research and analysis can be applied to all research paradigms, and that qualitative research does work when it is done…

Reviews persistent criticisms of quantitative research methodologies such as the lack of isomorphism between measures and "reality," its failure to produce "truths" useful to educational practice, the faulty use of statistics, and the poorly understood notion of causality. (JDH)

In the course of qualification, many teachers of adults undertake research studies into adult education. Author points out how few of these researches are of a disciplinary nature; using music as an example, shows how more tutors might undertake research in their specialisms. (Author/CSS)

States that educational researchers have very little knowledge that they know for certain. Provides an overview of the relationship between research and philosophy, addressing three questions: (1) What is real in education? (2) What can be known about educational reality? (3) What is the relationship between educational research and what we know…

The study of the role parents play in the reading development of their children requires a methodology that is unobtrusive, humane, objective, and natural. Ethnography, with its corresponding technique of participant observation, offers these characteristics. The distinctive features of an ethnographic research design include: formulation of the…

This article reviews reasons why research has shown so little application to practice. Among the reasons cited are: confusing definitions and terminology, failure to address questions which are important to practitioners, prevalence of inconclusive results, and failure to appreciate the political and social implications of research. (JDH)

This paper presents phenomenology as an alternative approach in conducting educational research. The aim of phenomenological research is the exploration of the fundamental consciousness of the person or people being studied so that their perceptions can be identified and interpreted. Today's phenomenology comes from the work of a group of European…

Notes that one-semester field methods courses in sociology often lack adequate time for students to learn appropriate techniques and still collect and report their data. Describes how undergraduate students bypass this problem by using multiple observations of a single event to quickly form a corpus of ethnographic data. (JDH)

Describes how sociology students in undergraduate research methods are involved in conducting an annual poll for the university. The emphasis is upon interviewing as a general data-gathering method. Includes information about how useful research problems are determined and the process used to design and implement the poll. (JDH)

The purpose of this project was to research and develop two design guides on environments important to child development: child care facilities and outdoor play areas, and to specify new, research-based criteria for the planning and design of these facilities for military bases around the world. The current paper is a synopsis of parts of this…

Notes the drawbacks of the artificial separation of content and method in most undergraduate, sociology department, course offerings. Reports on the development and operation of a local research center as a means of melding content and method. (JDH)