R. Zubir and M. Pope (1984) and K. Howe (1985, 1988) have argued against the "tyranny of methodological dogma" and that the division between quantitative psychometric and qualitative phenomenological and anthropological traditions is unnecessary. The postmodern self-consciousness of educational research has resulted in the realization that there…

This paper considers students' attitudes toward research and writing about research and discusses methods used to help students overcome their largely negative attitudes toward research. The paper first states that at Illinois State University in Normal, the course that follows freshman composition is one on academic discourse. The paper reports…

The development of the between-class, within-class analysis has facilitated a more refined analysis of classroom processes and influences: those which affect a class as a whole, a student within a class, or an individual student independent of context. However, a problem arises in using a between-class, within-class analysis to infer a particular…

This Technical Committee Report provides an overview and historical sketch of research in aging and proposes a need for new knowledge. An examination of key issues notes the difficulty in assigning priority to research topics, and identifies emerging issues of public concern including: (1) physical health (alcohol and drugs, falls and accidents,…

This document discusses the creation of a new formal language for the field of counseling psychology. Constructs for such a language are applied specifically to the communication of research information (especially research concerned with the effects of counselor action on clients) for experimental replication. Grammatical concepts of a formal…

The Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation Division (TAE) of the National Institute of Education was created during a reorganization in 1978. Some of TAE's activities have included: identifying research needs; long-range planning for federally-sponsored evaluation research; reviewing evaluation methodologies; comparing local vs. large national…

Recent research indicates that introductory psychology college students continue to be the primary source of subjects for psychological research. This extensive use of involuntary subjects in a required service subject pool raises numerous important questions for science and for educational and professional ethics. A general overview of research…

Without support, financial, organizational and otherwise, the U.S. national IEA writing study would never have been conducted; however, implementation of the study was difficult. Planning for the study and its support commenced in 1980, coterminous with two important occurrences: the National Institute of Education pulled back on its interest in…

Provides an overview of the area of quantitative research in chemical education, which involves the same components that comprise chemical research: (1) a question or hypothesis; (2) research design; (3) data collection and analysis; and (4) interpretation of results. Includes questions of interest to chemical educators; areas of quantitative…

The growing popularity of focus group measurements can be traced to any one of four factors: (1) the economics associated with focus groups; (2) the speed at which data can now be collected; (3) the need to understand customer motivations; and (4) the desire to improve subsequent qualitative research activities and programs. Market researchers are…

Reports on the state of research in nutrition communication, unmet goals in nutrition education, strategies for nutrition education and nutrition education research, and research design issues. Indicates that the field of communications offers theoretical perspectives for nutrition education research. (DS)

Barriers to evaluation of prevention programs arise from (1) attitudes that people have about such programs; (2) conceptual difficulties (lack of theory, difficulty in choosing criteria of success, lack of control over implementation strategies); and (3) methodological difficulties (monitoring program integrity over time, measuring program…

Research strategies used to study human aggression include laboratory study, experimental simulation, field experiment, field study, judgment task, sample survey, and less empirical strategies such as computer simulations and formal theory. The context of these strategies can be classified as either contrived, natural, or irrelevant. Major issues…

In this excerpt from an address to the 1982 meeting of the American Educational Research Association, the director of the National Institution of Education reaffirms the Institute's commitment to equal education and quality education and outlines priorities for the funding of educational research in the 1980s. (Author/GC)

Many articles have appeared in the educational, instructional, and psychological literature questioning the adequacy of the technology available for devising instruction, and the usability of the instructional research literature as a source of the technology. A systematic planning model is a useful framework for organizing what has to be done to…