The last decades have seen the completion of an increasing number of qualitative comparative research projects on teaching. Challenges and benefits which might arise from a qualitative international comparative research design have been considered. However, very little has been published on challenges and benefits which may arise from using…

When laws change the rules of the game, it is important to observe the effects on the players' behavior. Some effects can be anticipated while others are difficult to enunciate before the law comes into force. In this paper we have analyzed articles authored by Spanish accounting academics between 1996 and 2005 to assess the impact of a change in…

The Education Trust research report "Stuck Schools" suggests a framework for identifying chronically low-performing schools in need of turnaround. The study uses Maryland and Indiana to show that some low-performing schools make progress while others remain stagnant. The report has four serious problems of reliability and validity,…

The Research on the Improvement Process (RIP) Program of the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education has made the investigation of the change process in high schools their primary research priority for the 1980s. In this paper, the high school research endeavors of the RIP program are described, with special attention being given to…

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. The chapter advocates the analysis of event-histories (data giving the number, timing, and sequence of changes in a categorical dependent variable) with maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) applied to log-linear rate models. Results from a Monte Carlo investigation of the impact…

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. The chapter examines the merits of four estimators in the causal analysis of event-histories (data giving the number, timing, and sequence of changes in a categorical dependent variable). The four procedures are ordinary least squares, Kaplan-Meier least squares, maximum…

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. This chapter reports the results of Monte Carlo simulations designed to analyze problems of using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE: see SO 011 767) in research models which combine longitudinal and dynamic behavior data in studies of change. Four complications--censoring of…

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. This chapter offers guidelines for studying change in dynamically interdependent variables, even when a model that ignores interdependence is estimated. Many sociological studies concern dynamically interdependent variables; for example, in a study of female employment, a…

The document, part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759, examines sociological research methods for the study of change. The advantages and procedures for dynamic analysis of event-history data (data giving the number, timing, and sequence of changes in a categorical dependent variable) are considered. The authors argue for grounding…

The document, part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759, considers the problem of censoring in the analysis of event-histories (data on dated events, including dates of change from one qualitative state to another). Censoring refers to the lack of information on events that occur before or after the period for which data are available.…

This document introduces research aimed to explore methods that could be used to make inferences about causual effects of educational change over time when data are from an educational panel. This preface, the first in a series of 14 chapters described in SO 011 760-772, discusses an educational research project designed to examine affects of…