To evaluate the accuracy of the 1970 census' occupational classification system, a comparison was made between that year's responses to census questions and the replies by the same population group to the 1972 Postcensal Manpower Survey (PMS). Each of these questionnaires relied on a different methodology; in the PMS the respondent classified…

The past 22 years of research on the underutilization of mental health services by Mexican Americans are critically analyzed from conceptual and technical perspectives. While basic assertions of previous investigators that underutilization exists are correct, research concepts and methods used have been inadequate in relation to the issue's…

The many studies comparing good and poor readers have yielded few conclusive findings as a result of a number of problems. The first set of problems has to do with the choice of tests or tasks. There are many differences in the cognitive demands of reading and listening tasks children encounter in school. In listening, prosodic cues facilitate…

In 1976, a study determined that student retention had increased markedly following Barstow College's transition from a semester to a quarter system. In 1979, another study was conducted to determine: (1) the accuracy of the 1976 figures; (2) the effect of the shortness of the time period considered in the 1976 study on its reliability; (3) the…

Describes a study of secondary school students in Nigeria to determine whether use of musical accompaniment on videotape recordings used in instruction of economic geography had any effects on students' learning. Results offer inconclusive differences in effect between video instruction accompanied by music and video instruction without music.…

Replicated a study of boys with conduct problems using a parent-mediated treatment. Parents were trained to alter deviant behavior by following procedures derived from social learning theory. Child behavior showed significant change through termination as measured by parental reports. Follow-up data showed improvements were maintained through one…

Reports of five Canadian universities concerning gender discrimination in salaries are reviewed, compared, and evaluated. All found some discrimination, but approaches taken varied considerably. Analysis suggests the focus on single equation models is problematic, and further information gathering is needed. (Author/MSE)

An experiment compared group oral protocols of 37 native English-speaking subjects enrolled in a fourth-semester college French course making grammaticality judgments in English and French. Results indicate the subjects do not necessarily use the same strategies in rendering grammaticality judgments in first and second languages, casting doubt on…

It is often claimed that techniques such as "multimedia" and the use of blended learning environments can be used to achieve powerful interactive pedagogies. Indeed, the advent of easy-to-use multimedia technologies has meant that a plethora of digital learning products is now becoming available. Despite the relative ease-of-use of these new…

In policy research a frequent aim is to estimate treatment effects separately by subgroups. This endeavor becomes a methodological challenge when the subgroups are defined by post-treatment, rather than pre-treatment, variables because if analyses are performed in the same way as with pre-treatment variables, causal interpretations are no longer…

A seminar collected, shared, and discussed the consensus on definitions, standards, methods, and current problems in research methodology in comparative andragogy. Alfred Hierold opened the seminar with a brief history of the evolution of the University of Bamberg. The opening session focused on the importance of the researcher as a tool in…

This study weighs the validity of current arguments about the efficiency of public versus private schooling by critically examining the research that has compared the expenditures of public and private schools and by questioning common assumptions in the debate. Simple comparisons of per-pupil costs are found to be misleading as indicators of…

Using 20 comparative research studies, this paper compares advantages and disadvantages of family day care and center care. The results are discussed in terms of (1) the effects of family day care and center care on the intellectual, emotional, social, and physical development of young children and their parents; (2) the environmental differences…

This paper considers the problem of differentiating thought and language in a way that makes it possible to relate them to each other. The analysis covers approaches of sociolinguistic research, different models of language and cognitive functioning within psychology and linguistics, the cybernetic approach, and psycholinguistic analyses. A common…

Several methodological issues related to second language acquisition research are considered, and a two-part study is discussed that addresses issues related to data collection, i.e., how and how frequent, and data analysis, i.e., the appropriateness of the statistical tools, the justification of inferences and the comparability of results based…