This paper examines the educational implications for students with Tourette syndrome (TS) and outlines a multi-dimensional approach for improving their education. It presents data from two qualitative studies in Australia. TS is a debilitating neurological disorder that causes involuntary vocal and motor tics. The first study investigated the…

This book is a guide is for school practitioners who want to know more about planning and conducting focus groups as an aid to decision-making. It emphasizes practical and cost-effective ways to ensure accurate results. After defining the focus group, chapter 1 offers ways focus groups can be used in schools and reasons for using them. Chapter 2…

Discusses the potential impact of computers in qualitative health research. Describes the original goals, design, and implementation of NUDIST, a qualitative computing software. Argues for evaluation of the impact of computer techniques and for an opening of debate among program developers and users to address the purposes and power of computing…

A review of more than 3,000 books, monographs, journal articles, papers and other reports was conducted to discover what kinds of design, measurement, and analytical lessons have been learned as a result of the enormous volume of college-impact-on-student studies that have been published in the last 20 years and to determine how these lessons…

Guidelines for the implementation of qualitative methods in special education research are offered, addressing rigor, sample selection, data collection, and data management/analysis. Five possible pitfalls are identified, including the quantitative-qualitative methods debate, premature data collection, the tendency to use a linear procedural…

Explores educational implications of the case study method in therapeutic recreation, discussing why case study methods are important and how to use them effectively with preservice and inservice therapeutic recreation specialists. The case study approach is an important vehicle for discovery about people with disabilities and about therapeutic…

Reflects on some of the problems encountered in the authors' experimental approach to a study of reading comprehension. Discusses the limitations of experimental research, and presents an alternative to experimental or quantitative research, focusing on the relationship between teachers and learners as they interact in classrooms. (MM)

This guide is designed to encourage students, faculty, and policymakers to become more self-reflective in their inquiry. Placing the pursuit of ideas at the epicenter of research, K-12 and higher education scholars advance ideas for enhancing educational inquiry, relying extensively on narratives, vignettes, and examples of key episodes in…

Describes a qualitative research study of children from divided families and analyzes findings in terms of family contexts, children's resiliency, and needs. Suggests strategies for professionals including recognition of developmental capacity within family circumstances, interactive systems, communication patterns and areas of stress. Includes…

Studying or finding out about children is exceptionally difficult--intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Physical, social, cognitive, and political distances between adult and the child make their relationship very different from the relationships among adults. This book explains the art and science of doing qualitative research involving…

Ethnographic research (1) observes human behavior in its natural setting over a substantial period of time, (2) claims that classes of events are better understood through intensive examination of carefully selected particular cases, (3) incorporates as many of the complexities and variables into a setting as possible, and (4) is usually comprised…