A qualitative study of 10 mothers who received a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome and chose to continue their pregnancy examined how the diagnosis was presented, the decision to continue the pregnancy, and the mothers' experiences with professionals from diagnosis to delivery. Mothers' suggestions to others facing the same challenges and to…

Adopted a qualitative research method to understand participants' self-efficacy phenomena in their English-as-a-Second-Language learning. The study also used quantitative research to examine the essences underlying participants'self-efficacy and their relationship with participants' achievements. (Author/VWL)

Examines, using qualitative methods, targeted fourth-grade at-risk children in a culturally diverse elementary school in a mid-sized city in the southwestern United States. Describes the nature of social interactions within the context of tutorial sessions. Identifies common characteristics of highly effective tutors in their interactions with…

Argues that researchers must adopt different personas when looking for research support and when researching: one demands business skills, the other requires interpersonal skills. Discusses issues associated with identifying and securing grant money, and aspects of doing qualitative research. Suggests future problems of compatibility between…

Describes a course about interpretive research methods. Argues that the course is different than many methods courses in that it does not ask students to conduct field research, but rather, to read ethnography and focus on why ethnographers do what they do. Considers a unit about validity in detail. (DSK)

Responds to commentaries about the author's article "Teaching about Validity." Links these commentaries and the original article to suggestions for curriculum design in teaching about qualitative research methods. Discusses the idea of "meaning making" as a possible way to integrate the approaches described in the commentaries and original…

Examines unexpected challenges based on differing understandings and values about what counts as research in teacher-researcher collaboration. Focuses on two challenges: defining and legitimating nonquantitative research; and intermingling roles and responsibilities of "researcher" and "teacher." Shows how key material…

A case study of the conversational development in a 7-year-old girl with profound deafness explored the relationship between mode of inquiry and findings resulting from using qualitative research methodology. Findings led to the discovery of the child's language competencies and revealed contextual features that contributed to conversational…

Based on the author's teaching/counseling experience, describes the micropolitics of race and privilege manifest in one elite independent school that threatened academically gifted African-American high school students' success. Privileged education must be reexamined before advocating it for students currently ill-served by public schools.…

Uses qualitative methods to examine the similarities and differences in the meaning of aging for young and older adults. Results show that younger adults associate aging with major events in their lives and perceive aging negatively. By contrast, older adults associate aging with everyday events and they perceive aging positively. (Author/GCP)

Examines mistakes in following instructions in an electronics factory. Explores the significance of the mistakes and a range of explanations for why they occur. Offers an expansive definition of what it means to be a literate, skills-rich worker, and urges vigilance against the tendency in both schools and workplaces to label and mislabel. (SC)

Examines closely the processes, both theoretical and enacted, a teacher undergoes when making changes in methods of reading instruction. Chronicles, using a qualitative-research case study, a teacher who after 19 years of teaching strictly by the basal began changing toward a balanced literature approach. Includes a model of transition…

Explores the encounter between teachers and research literature, examines whether this encounter has any prospects, and determines the features necessary for a meaningful encounter. Illustrates that research literature is not part of the typical teacher's library and that there is a gap between the researcher's world and teacher's world. (CMK)

A case study of Queensland, Australia, elementary principals found their jobs significantly affected by school-based management. Principals are expected to lead their communities through the change process and facilitate cultural change while responding to greater accountability demands from the system. Managerialism has eclipsed educational…

Analyzed the discourse about television programs of 1,300 5- to 13-year-olds from England and Wales. Found that discourse expressed socially responsible and public service values in evaluating programs. Explained finding in terms of children's adaptation to task requirements and ability to access different kinds of adult discourse available in the…