Mothers' behavioral intentions about using physical punishment were examined to reveal influences on their selection of responses to child misbehaviors. Participants were 55 middle-class, mostly college-educated mothers of 3-to-4-year-old children. A total of 31 children were girls. Mothers operated a computer program which presented, in a random…

A study was conducted to create an instrument for systematically coding qualitative processes of children's cooperative and associative play. Data were gathered through observations of 16 preschool children ranging in age from 47 to 59 months and attending a day care center using the High/Scope Preschool Curriculum Model. A total of 20 hours of…

This paper identifies typical sampling problems, including improper application of the Central Limit Theorem, that are associated with the probability-based sampling procedures currently used in clinical psychology research. It then presents two alternative research designs, the theory validation model and the extended case study model, which…

In his article "The 'Effects' of Infant Day Care Reconsidered," Jay Belsky (see PS 017 108) concludes that maternal employment puts infants at risk for developing emotional insecurity and social maladjustment. After a review of Belsky's and other research, a different conclusion is offered in this paper. It is agreed that infants whose…

A meta-analysis was conducted on 44 educational studies that used either a (labelled) Hawthorne control group, a manipulation of Hawthorne effects, or a group designed to control for the Hawthorne effect. The sample included published journal articles, ERIC documents or unpublished papers, and dissertations. The studies were coded on 20 variables,…

Interest in mathemagenics (adjunct aids used in text to enhance learning) has most likely resulted from the indirect effects of inserted postquestions, whereby the learning of unquestioned material is enhanced as well as that of questioned material. However, since most mathemagenics research has occurred in laboratory settings in which subjects…

Developmental studies have primarily focused on what takes place within the confines of a given interpersonal system (first order development). What has been neglected is second order development, the interpersonal communication that alters the system itself. From this particular developmental perspective, a model can be used that illustrates and…

To determine whether or not both speech and laboratory assessments of referential communication ability measure a single area of competence, three groups of children were formed on the basis of their parents' diagnostic status: schizophrenic, unipolar depressive, or bipolar disordered. The breakdown of subject groups was as follows: 23 children of…

Feminist research techniques in sociology, history, and anthropology reveal consistent approaches on how to study women. In all three disciplines, feminist methodology reveals a pervasive lack of information about women's worlds, a bias in the underrepresentation of women researchers, a need to reconceptualize previously investigated phenomena to…

Traditionally the unit of analysis in marital research has been the individual spouse. More recently the marital relationship has often been defined as a process of interaction and dynamic exchanges such that spouses have autonomous needs as well as corporate needs for interdependence. Thus modern systems theory heightens the importance of both…

Intended primarily for researchers and prevention program personnel, this booklet provides current background information on the continuing problem of smoking among children and adolescents. In the first brief section, research findings concerning American youth's current smoking patterns and beliefs are described. The second section considers…

There has recently been a tremendous increase in the quantity of research published in gerontology. While the increase in the quantity of research has been regarded positively by gerontologists, there has been little discussion or evaluation of the quality of the research. Two articles that appeared in 1975 were both very critical of…

A study by Malcolm R. Parks reported in "Communication Monographs" called into question the cross-situational validity of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA). Park's study, however, is flawed in many ways. He does not provide an adequate definition of "situation." Both the type of factor analysis he chose…

Traditional sex difference research ignores the impact of social forces on the research process. It characteristically interprets sex differences as female deficiencies, also emphasizing the view of sex differences as determined by personal characteristics rather than situational contexts. Since research is a social process with a potentially…

One popular method of generating large quantities of social science research data is telephone research. The interviewer's communication skill is a critical factor in determining the reliability and validity of such research. The interviewer should have a clear, pleasant, and understandable voice; be able to read through the questions fluently;…