Comparison is made between the techniques of research used in the physical sciences and those used in educational research, and the relative weakness of the reproducibility of educational research findings is noted. It is pointed out that while monitoring and feedback are essential in any research endeavor, they present difficulty in educational…

In this manual, both methodological and practical guidelines for conducting field research in urban desegregated schools are discussed. Strategies for negotiating access to and studying all participants in the educational system (students, teachers, administrators, other personnel, and parents) are suggested. Fieldwork styles, philosophies, and…

A method of examining individual variation in responses to Inhelder-Piaget formal reasoning tasks is proposed as a means of identifying cognitive style components of formal reason and as a means of generating more complete descriptions of observable manifestations of formal reasoning. The method is one used by human ethologists and consists of…

Twelve papers are contained in this report. Robert M. Ranftl reports on the findings of a study to identify useful techniques for optimizing productivity. John S. Packard contrasts the spirit of inquiry and the norm of productivity, and makes recommendations for the composition of a research team. David L. Williams describes procedures to ensure…

An evaluation was made of the methodology and findings presented in "Television and Antisocial Behavior. Field Experiments," by Stanley Milgram and R. Lance Shotland (New York: Academic Press, 1973). In the book, seven experiments were reported, all concerned with antisocial behavior toward a medical charity. Three episodes of Medical…

The degree to which the chosen units of analysis are likely to produce spurious findings in staged combinations of multiple linear regression procedures are examined. The effects of grouping variables (e.g., classroom, school, and school district) on Procedures such as Coleman's semipartial regression and Mayeske's commonalities, in light of…

The purpose of this paper is to summarize and evaluate experiments which examined the effects of teacher questions on student achievement. The studies reviewed are of two types: (a) training experiments, in which the independent variable is teacher training; and (b) skills experiments, in which the frequency and manner of use of a teaching skill…

The failure of development to improve the quality of life in most third world countries and in the less advantaged sectors of advanced capitalistic countries can be partially attributed, it is felt, to methodological errors made by those studying development. Some recent sociological approaches to the study of development are reviewed in this…

Chapter 1 of this report, "Introduction and General Recommendations for Eye-Movement Research and Instrumentation," discusses research priorities; encouraging and supporting theories, models, or simulations of information processing; and improved instrumentation in the field of visual information processing. Chapter 2, "Summary of…

Educational research is concerned with providing bases for improving education and so needs to study cause-effect relations in the educational process. Despite two decades of ferment and innovation, the instruction of most students has been affected little, if at all. Local change programs in education tend to be those that make the most apparent…

This study was initiated in 1964 under the sponsorship of the Cooperative Research Program of the Office of Education to develop and supply data useful to policy makers and planners of training programs for research, development, and diffusion personnel in education. The first task was the construction of a logical structure to account for the…

A psychologist on the staff of a research preschool in Chicago found that contact with black community leaders was essential to the success of the project. Specific questions dealt with the proper focus of research and the use of research funds in the community. This essay presents the research psychologist's views concerning the Negroes'…

This collection of four symposium papers explores research and data problems in big-city schools. The papers are "Data Accessibility: Policies and Organizational Strictures in Big-City Schools" by W.G. Monahan (ED 019 749), "Some Data Problems in Systems Research" by M.C. Alkin and W.L. Duff, Jr. (ED 021 324), "Towards Adequate Educational and…

Evaluating current rural development research, the paper covers 6 major areas: (1) the nature and purpose of research; (2) circumstances related to rural development that require careful attention; (3) observations on rural development "disorganization" as an "outsider" might view the situation; (4) an opinion about the focus…

This inquiry was conducted to develop indigenous research methodology aimed at minimizing the gap between educational research and practice. The intent was not to produce a final or complete solution to the problem, but rather to suggest a procedure which would provide partial closure. Alternative methods, including various types of linkage…