Suggests that different levels of analysis and theoretical approaches are less problematic when considered in terms of different degrees of abstraction to the extent that concepts utilized are time and space free. Illustrates the need for multiple levels of analysis and abstraction with two examples: contemporary sexual behavior and explanations…

The use of proportions to transform raw scores into standardized, dimensionless units creates measurement problems. The use of fractional (percentage) uncertainties for physical or any other measurements results in other problems. Means of dealing with associated problems of standardization are discussed. (TJH)

A restudy of nonrespondents to a contingent valuation method survey increased the response rate from 59 to 87 percent. The likelihood ratio test was used to determine respondent/nonrespondent differences more precisely. Results indicate that nonresponse bias can be quantified and that personal contacts with nonrespondents can generate crucial…

Reviewed 283 data-based articles containing material about Black Americans in the "Journal of Marriage and Family" from 1939-87 using a sociohistorical framework of analysis. Results indicated that focus on the culture-of-poverty thesis has been a prominent and obvious source of distortion in substantive research on Black families in America.…

Presents procedure, mixed-radix positional number algorithm, for reducing set of numerous changes and stabilities in multiple roles at given time to a single empirical code. Demonstrates applicability and utility of procedure to wide array of complex family analyses through a simple pedagogical example. (Author/NB)

Discusses research issues in childhood depression including advantages/disadvantages of research designs, level of diagnosis used, significance of age of onset on severity, and specific areas of needed research. Concludes that many depressive symptoms are transient, diminishing or disappearing with age and/or changing environmental circumstances,…

Although the vast majority of articles cited by Jeanne Chall and Marie Carbo fit the patched-up program evaluation category, the outcomes of nine randomized field experiments are the best evidence available in the research literature. Systematic phonics is an example of the weak instructional treatments presently plaguing education. Includes 16…

Focuses on the experimental designs and methodology of 15 studies, most of which used only part of the methodology for the experimental analysis of behavior. Argues that the failure to fully use available research technology may have contributed to researchers' failure to make experimental contact with the definition of reinforcement. (RH)

Proposes an interference explanation of data from dual-task studies of memory development. Dual-task data support the resources hypothesis that memory processes tax a common pool of cognitive energy, which has been variously called attentional, mental effort, and working-memory capacities. Suggests that dual-task deficits are instances of output…

A paper by M. Hill et al., titled "Benefit-Cost Analysis of Supported Competitive Employment for Persons with Mental Retardation," is criticized due to logic concerns, certain omissions, and some imprecision. The study's conclusions are generally supported, but the certainty of taxpayers benefitting from the employment programs is…

Claims that Campbell and Christopher's literature on moral development construes the cognitive-developmental and domain approaches too narrowly, overinterprets the influence of Kant, excludes other equally important non-Kantian philosophical influences, and ignores much of the research evidence. Describes the need for drawing distinctions in…

Claims that even if objections to eudaimonism are completely correct, critics still have not explained how anyone might develop a eudaimonistic moral conception. Concludes that moral personality is a legitimate object of study and discusses the challenges posed by taking moral personality seriously. (MOK)

Johnes and Johnes demonstrate use of data-envelopment analysis to construct an efficiency frontier comparing different UK university economics departments' efficiency without having to assign uniform weights to inputs and outputs. Since desirability of departmental goals cannot be compared, DEA's usefulness is limited to comparing relative…

The appropriateness of the metaphor of the purity of data is questioned, using a perspective based on L. S. Vygotsky's idea of the zone of proximal development and its emphasis on a genetic method in which development is mediated by cultural tools and signs. (SLD)

A review of 8,000 articles in family research journals revealed that research on lesbian and gay families is limited and that studies that do exist have been problematized and their diversity has been overlooked. Challenges the neglect of this population in family studies, and discusses theoretical implications. (JPS)