In some studies, participants are assigned ethnographic or communicative tasks, such as field-work observation, life-story interviews, and photography. These studies usually involve in-person interaction, both for the participants doing the task and for the researchers in engaging with participants throughout the research process. Our study was…

This popular text, now in its fifth edition, provides step-by-step guidance for new and experienced researchers who want to use interviewing as a research method. This user-friendly guide explains the rationale for interviewing and the complexity of selecting interview participants, important interviewing techniques, and how to work with the…

Graduate medical education (GME) continues its decades-long evolution. Evidence-based approaches are increasingly transforming the way we educate, evaluate, and promote GME trainees. Key to this transformation is our ability to recognize that "medical education" constitutes a true lifelong continuum, beginning with pre-medical education,…

In January 2014, I began working as an evaluator on an education reform project being implemented by faculty in science and engineering departments at my university. The core goals of the project were for participating faculty members to improve students' learning, engagement, and recruitment and retention in selected introductory-level courses…

This book explores the experiences of men and women who train to teach ESL as a second career. Drawing from in-depth interviews and observations of 30 students (aged 45 to 73) in a TESOL graduate program, this book provides portraits of these individuals as they develop as teachers. It describes the processes they go through to launch their…

This case study reflects on the main method of data collection, the "Biographical Narrative Interview Method," I applied in my doctoral research, which critically analysed the influence of social class on graduate employment trajectories. It will evaluate the specific mechanics of the method and forms or approaches within the…

My mixed-methods doctoral study (2009-2011) investigated the social backgrounds, aspirations and educational experiences of a 2009 cohort of commencing humanities students at an Australian university. I discussed various challenges they faced on and off campus impacting their studies. In this instance, I focus on my research methods. Most students…

Most nineteenth and early-twentieth-century European immigrants arrived in the United States with barely more than the clothes on their backs. They performed menial jobs, spoke little English, and often faced a hostile reception. But two or more generations later, the overwhelming majority of their descendants had successfully integrated into…

Positive psychology is a rapidly expanding area of study that is of great interest to students at the graduate, undergraduate, and high school levels. But the field is so broad that teachers who want to cover all the bases when designing a positive psychology course may have difficulty locating and selecting materials. "Activities for Teaching…

"Degrees of Inequality" reveals the powerful patterns of social inequality in American higher education by analyzing how the social background of students shapes nearly every facet of the college experience. Even as the most prestigious institutions claim to open their doors to students from diverse backgrounds, class disparities remain.…

Based on evidence from a survey of 816 completers and noncompleters of doctoral degree programs and on interviews with noncompleters, high- and low-Ph.D. productive faculty, and directors of graduate study, this book locates the root cause of attrition in doctoral study and the cultural organization of graduate education. The chapters are: (1)…

A study was designed to investigate the ways in which graduate students respond to the fact that their competence must be repeatedly valued by means of grades, written and oral examinations, letters of recommendations, dissertation approvals, and various less official procedures. Some students, the gamesmen, have developed strategies for evading…

Princeton University graduates of the class of 1954 were interviewed to determine what aspects of their undergraduate education they value and how their undergraduate years may have enriched their lives. The author, a professor of psychology at Princeton from 1950-1954, interviewed 32 of his former advisees 25 years after their graduation. The…

Nineteen well known figures, with a common interest in disadvantaged learners, are interviewed. Many are respected members of educational institutions with expertise in teacher unions, undergraduate education, school reform, achievement gaps, research universities, preschool education at home, and teacher training. The authors of…

This book is designed to help psychology graduate students obtain predoctoral internships in professional psychology. It explains the hidden agendas of internship training directors. Discussions of the recent disparities between the internship supply and demand and evaluation of the competitiveness of various internships are provided. This book…