Merton claims an important role for German pietism in the rapid rise of Western science over the past four centuries. An investigation of sources either misinterpreted or ignored by Merton not only calls into question his conclusion about pietism and science but also opens discussion about ascetic Protestantism and science. (Author/IS)

In a reply to Becker's critique of the relationship between pietism and science, Merton discusses the fallacy of the latest word, which is based on the idea that scientific knowledge always proceeds upwards and that the latest theory is the best theory as well as the one best grounded in evidence. (Author/IS)

An alternative to Fisher's exact test and the chi-square test for homogeneity in two-by-two tables is developed. The method provides for Type I error rates which are closer to the stated alpha level than either of the alternatives. (JKS)

Reducing Aldrich's codification of organizational task environments from six to three dimensions--munificence (capacity), complexity (homogeneity-heterogeneity, concentration-dispersion), and dynamism (stability-instability, turbulence), the authors use interim and factor analytical techniques to explore each dimension's viability and draw…

Previous research investigating the relationship of attraction and aggression has yielded somewhat equivocal results. The present study investigated the influence of two variables, attitudinal similarity and exposure, on interpersonal attraction and physical aggression. (Editor)

Attempts to settle the question of whether reading units are ever larger than letters and considers the variables expected to influence the size of the reading unit. (Author/RK)

It is sometimes assumed that students (a) know which questions they will be best at answering in an examination, and (b) know how well they have performed after completing an examination. These hypotheses were tested for 50 dental students who completed a six-question essay examination in Human Physiology and Pharmacology. (Editor/RK)

Discusses the deficiencies of the nativistic explanation of language acquisition, reviews and critiques existing theories of syntax while highlighting the trend toward a semantic description of linguistic development, and argues that a satisfactory account of language acquisition will not emerge until this process is viewed within a larger…

A strong test of exposure effects was made by eliminating confounding demand characteristics through the use of a between-subject design. Each subject viewed novel stimuli at a single frequency level, and then rated them on several affective scales. (Editor)

Evaluates affective and self-disclosure responses to the disclosure of stigmatizing information by an experimental partner. Greater liking and self-disclosure were expected where the partner discloses exclusively to the subject than where he either does not disclose or discloses to everyone. (Author/RK)

Using survey data, hypotheses were tested relative to the paradox of socioeconomic equality and private property encompassed in U.S. agrarian idealism. (JC)

Two tasks were used to test predictions of the Semantic Feature Hypothesis (SFH) about children's comprehension of the meaning of spatial adjectives. Predictions about acquisition order for dimensional features were supported; predictions about polarity were not. An acquisition hypothesis is offered that is contrary to the SFH. (Author/RM)

This paper addresses the state of the art regarding the use of statistical significance tests (SSTs). How social science research will be conducted in the future is impacted directly by current debates regarding hypothesis testing. This paper: (1) briefly explicates the current debate on hypothesis testing; (2) reviews the newly published report…

Whether one should use null hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, and/or effect sizes is a source of continuing controversy in educational research. An alternative to testing for statistical significance, known as equivalence testing, is little used in educational research. Equivalence testing is useful in situations where the researcher…