If the education profession is to improve, the gap between educational research and the classroom teacher must be narrowed. Most educational theory is based on empirical research generated by logical deduction, but naturalistic research provides more innovative and flexible methods for collecting explanations of learning behavior. (MT)

To examine the antecedents and consequences of social comparison exchanges of preschool children, this paper describes and analyzes several examples of such behavior. Data provide variegated descriptions of the social components of comparison behaviors in naturally occurring classroom contexts. (Author/RH)

Examines various situations in which young children use social comparison to elicit understanding from a peer. Data are drawn from naturalistic observations of three- , four- , and five-year-olds. Children used social comparison to seek information, agreement, permission, compliance, verbal responsiveness, and attention. (Author/RH)

Compared direction and purpose of touch, type, body area touched, and responses to touch for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers observed in early childhood classrooms. Found that infants received more touch than older children. Touch involving "vulnerable body parts" and negative responses occurred more often among toddlers than…

Used naturalistic observation method to study interaction of children and their male and female adult caretakers in public places in San Diego, California (N=2,050), and Lincoln, Nebraska (N=450). Found male involvement rate higher for boys, older children, recreational settings, mixed-sex dyads, and Caucasion caretakers as compared to Asian…

Argues that valid evaluation of reference services should involve triangulation, that is, the systematic use of a variety of carefully chosen research methods. The use of triangulation in conjunction with several qualitative research methods is described and guidelines to the implementation of a qualitative research project are provided. (27…

Many different methods are termed qualitative research. A continuum of research methods avoids the need to classify research as either scientific or naturalistic. Each method may be assessed in terms of degree of constraints on possible outputs and degree of constraints on antecedent variables. (SK)

Suggests that the practice of ethnography in the spirit of Clifford Geertz's "thick description," and the thinking that this practice demands, can give college students both a tool for inquiry and a sense of their positions as authorities in the writing process. Defines thick description and discusses how ethnography works in a…

Systematic naturalistic observations of imitation, theory of mind, play, and social contact were conducted with children with autism, adults with autism, children with learning disabilities, and normally developing young children. Although little imitation was observed in any but the normal young children, the autistic subjects showed less…

Research assessed 44 students' levels of self-esteem and then measured their actual levels of intoxication with a breathalyzer as they were leaving a fraternity party. Participants with lower levels of self-esteem exited the party with a mean Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .126, while those with higher levels of self-esteem exited with a…

It has been said that children are smarter than we sometimes acknowledge them to be. Knowledge can be, at times, hidden from view. It is a teacher's job to get to know his or her students very well and find ways to make sure they give them due credit for what they know. But can one know one's students solely upon the grades given on quizzes,…

The research design for this study focuses on examining the core issues and challenges when video games are used in the classroom. For this purpose three naturalistic contexts in Turkey were examined in which educational video games were used as the basis for teaching units on world continents and countries, first aid, and basic computer hardware…

This study explored the relationship between academic orientation, academic achievement, and interest in night-sky watching (noctcaelador). Participants included 117 students enrolled in undergraduate psychology classes who completed the Survey of Academic Orientations (SAO; Davidson, Beck, & Silver, 1999), Noctcaelador Inventory (NI; Kelly,…

Relations between preservice teachers' guided field observations of primary literacy instruction and knowledge about effective beginning reading practices were explored. Preservice teachers (n = 48) participated in a Directed Field Experience course including instruction on and observations of exemplary teaching practices promoting student…

This exploratory study examines the mother's perceptions of her preschooler's acculturation process, using qualitative methods to collect data from six Latino immigrant mothers about their own acculturation and that of their preschool child. Three patterns emerged: parallel dyadic acculturation, vertex dyadic acculturation, and intersegmented…