Asserting that the development of educational theory requires scientific study based on comparative data, the author analyzes the objections to data comparison between societies and finds this to be a nonissue. This is the Presidential Address, delivered to the Comparative and International Education Society, Mexico City, March 1978. (SJL)

Presents a speculative model for predicting differential rates of therapeutic change. From a review of 52 comparative psychotherapy studies, certain hypothesized relationships between the characteristics constituting the model and a variety of psychological treatment procedures were assessed. Use of the model for generating and guiding research is…

Compares various research techniques used by anthropologists and historians to explain the past and to provide insights into other cultures. Employs examples from various historical periods and cultural studies (particularly the enlightenment) to show that uniform, unmediated objectivity across cultures is neither necessary nor desirable. (DB)

The author illustrates the shortcomings of pooling data from replication and original studies. If combining data is deemed necessary, procedures should be rigorous to identify statistically widen study differences. When sources of variation are easily identifiable, an analysis of variance may be superior to a series of separate t-tests.…

Sees need for research examining differences among psychotherapy treatments to use model to narrow search for variables mediating between treatment type and outcome. Asserts that tests of treatment selection models that cut across narrow theoretical differences among psychotherapies and that operationalize definitions of patient types hold promise…

This article discusses some of the methodological problems involved in determining indices for the level of education in the Soviet Union. (KM)

There are times in survey research when missing values need to be estimated. The robustness of four variations of regression and substitution by mean methods was examined using a 3x3x4 factorial design. The regression variations included in the study were: (1) regression using a single best predictor; (2) two best predictors; (3) all available…

To determine whether or not both speech and laboratory assessments of referential communication ability measure a single area of competence, three groups of children were formed on the basis of their parents' diagnostic status: schizophrenic, unipolar depressive, or bipolar disordered. The breakdown of subject groups was as follows: 23 children of…

Sibling data drawn from the Kalamazoo Brothers sample are used in this report to assess the adequacy of conventional sociological variables for measuring family background, to estimate the overall effects of family background on test scores, education, occupational status, and earning, and to control family background when estimating the effects…

Addressing the problems of cross-research analysis, two Federal Interagency Panels have recommended that researchers: 1) use more complete definitions of the variables used in their study; 2) be more precise in their descriptions of populations; and 3) insure that their methodology and research lends itself to a comparability review. (BJG)

Paper read at the Groves Conference on the Family, Boston, Massachusetts, 1968.

To compare the effectiveness of the traditional and the experimental approaches to Head Start classrooms, 68 children and six teachers in San Francisco participated in an educational experiment. The traditional approach emphasizes the children's internal motivation resulting from spontaneous free play and warm, accepting teachers, while the…

Types of comparisons for evaluation of mnemonics were identified based on equating exposure to the to-be-learned associations or on total study time. Experiments on the cueword method illustrated how highly analytical experiments on mnemonics might be conducted and how choice of comparisons in research could affect mnemonic evaluation. (Author/DWH)

Discussion of difficulties in evaluating simulations and games as teaching techniques includes range of claims made for the techniques; variety available; lack of specificity of technique objectives at design stage; limitations of objective-oriented research; inherent difficulties of comparative evaluation against alternative techniques; and…

Discusses the question of appropriate research methodologies for social psychology research, casting "involved participation" and role enactment as contrasting methodologies, with deception used in either case where necessary. Involved participation is considered to be more flexible and more suited for the testing of hypotheses whereas role…