This paper reviews, first, experimental studies of perceptual-cognitive development and related work directed to the assessment of infant intelligence and, second, naturalistic observation of the exploratory patterns of infants during free play. Techniques used, such as the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence, offer the potential to identify…

The forms, functions, and targets of the spontaneous communication of 30 children (age 4-13) with autism were observed during school activities. Communication patterns varied by cognitive level and autism severity, but the prototypical communicative event involved a child directing a motoric form of communication toward the teacher to request…

A five-month ethnographic study of friendship development identified major issues in first graders' disputes with friends. Examined consequences of the disputes for children's relationships. Stressed the importance of detailed, historical investigations of specific interactive events for an accurate understanding of human development and…

Alternative methods of data collection among homeless people are compared to traditional shelter and street surveys. The alternatives allow for more people to be reached, achieve greater depth, put researcher and subject on a more equal footing, and appear to produce a more accurate picture of homeless people in their diversity. (CJS)

Four researchers argue the merits of qualitative methodology and its particular relevance to those in special education who seek to move beyond a deficit perspective. Unconstrained by defined variables and decontextualized settings, qualitative methods allowed the researchers to extend the scope of their studies beyond originally stated research…

This study examined the experiences of secondary rural school students, teachers, and administrators to determine their perspectives on distance education. Discusses results of interviews, naturalistic observations, and document analysis that showed the importance of teacher characteristics; problems with a lack of socialization; and problems with…

This paper discusses a formal study conducted in 2001 at Brigham Young University to determine the value of the library to the university community. Methods used to collect data for the study included an e-mail survey, usage statistics, naturalistic observations, and interviews. Two years after the study, the authors wondered if the conclusions of…

Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation skills which impede the acquisition of more complex behaviors and socialization, and are thus an important focus of early intervention programs for children with autism. This study used a multiple-baseline design across five young children with autism to assess the benefit of a…

This paper reports results of intensive field work in urban high school mathematics and science classrooms based on research with students attending eight high schools located in large, disparate urban sites across the U.S. During the course of our observations and interviews we recorded students' activities as well as their impressions of…

How children use language affects the likelihood that a request will be granted. This study explored children's requests in a natural setting, by analyzing unedited letters to Santa from 824 children (20% age 6 and under; 41% age 7 and 8; and 39% age 9 and over) in the newspapers of a southeastern metropolitan area. Letters were examined for…

Previous investigators have looked at many types of criminal offenses in order to determine alcohol involvement in crime. This longitudinal (4-year) naturalistic experimental and control designed study examined the effects of change in alcohol availability on rates of offending in a small provincial region of New Zealand following the closure of…

In a world where science has become too confined to books and too reliant on technology, and science fairs have been taken over by parents, this paper offers suggestions to help young people have actual hands-on experience with nature. Topics include soil formation; ants; earthworms; temperature; weather predictions; rain acidity; physical science…

A teaching/learning strategy called "Content-Field Synergy" (C-FS) promotes systematic instruction in the use of naturalistic inquiry as a higher order thinking strategy in social context. C-FS is a total course of study design that synthesizes and extends material from the required course text and lectures with observations from a…

Every school, no matter how urbanized, has an outdoor locale that can be used to expand and enrich classroom learning. It may be the school yard, the surrounding grounds, or the managed and landscaped lawns or garden. Or perhaps a park or overgrown vacant lot is within walking distance. This guide will help elementary and junior high school…

The argument underlying the ongoing paradigm shift from logical-positivism to constructionism is briefly outlined. A model of evaluation planning, implementation, and management (the P-I-M model) is then presented, which assumes a complementarity between the two paradigms. The P-I-M Model includes three components of educational evaluation: a…