All social science serves some agenda: social science research is a value-bound, value-determined, context-situated, and ideologically loaded enterprise. Each researcher makes choices in the following areas, whether tacitly, implicitly, or deliberately: (1) a paradigm choice, either conventional (rationalistic) or emerging (naturalistic); (2) the…

Educational policy research is discussed as it concerns the utilization and programming of research. Following a brief review of the development of the educational research system, Part 1 discusses the following utilization concerns: the gap between research and policymakers; the relationship of organizational setting to utilization (comparing…

This paper reviews the following studies on the cost-effectiveness of the Chapter 1 compensatory education program: (1) Sustaining Effects Study; (2) Tallmadge Study; (3) the Kiesling Study for Rand; (4) Instructional Dimensions Study; (5) Response to Educational Needs Project Cost-Effectiveness Study; (6) Educational Testing Service/Ragosta…

The Urban Community Colleges Transfer Opportunities Program (UCCTOP) was initiated in 1983 to stimulate the transfer of minority students from community colleges to universities. Collecting data on the effects of the UCCTOP activities proved to be one of the most difficult aspects of the project as community colleges typically do not have reliable…

A research project was conducted to determine the effects of the Parenthood Education semester course on Louisiana students' knowledge of parenting and child development and their attitudes toward children and parenting. Data were collected from 563 high school students in 16 randomly selected schools through their home economics teachers, using…

The simplified and standardized models of university-industry cooperative research agreements that are presented are the products of a joint effort of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable and the Industrial Research Institute. These two organizations approached the task of developing these models with the goal to maximize…

In 1986, the Center for Education Statistics (CES) initiated a series of meetings with a wide range of private school representatives. At these meetings, a need for more complete information on the data collection efforts of the various private groups was identified, and as a result, CES agreed to investigate the extent and nature of the education…

The preparation and use of data needed to make objective, useful comparisons in higher education are considered. The needs for comparative data in higher education, including demands for accountability and strategic planning, are reviewed. In addition, data-related problems are considered: problems of narrowness, misrepresentation, sameness,…

Coleman, Hoffer and Kilgore's claims regarding the effects of Catholic schools on cognitive achievement have evoked much controversy. Critics have argued that the cross-sectional testing data Coleman et al. used could not distinguish differential sector effectiveness from selection effects, i.e., that Catholic schools enroll students of superior…

Two methodologies for teacher-focused process evaluation--rating scales and systematic observation--are discussed and comments are made about their characteristics and effective utilization to improve teachers' performance. Process evaluation, referring specifically to the act of evaluating what teachers do in their classrooms, may be of formative…

The purpose of this research study was to assess item response model-test data fit using residuals. First, a comparison of raw and standardized residuals for describing model-test data fit was carried out. Second, hypotheses concerning the relationship between residual sizes and several item characteristics were studied. The analyses with…

The major finding of the Law-Related Education Evaluation Project report for Year 1 (1981), that law-related education courses can reduce juvenile delinquency, is of limited use to educational decision makers and could be misleading. The research design leaves much to be desired; however, that fact must be considered in light of the difficulty of…

Empirical validation of the Self-Identity Development Model of Oppressed People (SIDMOP) prompted the choice of a multi-methodological approach that would test the underlying theory and not the participants' ability to perform a matching task. Few identity developmental models of oppressed people have been systematically developed, and even fewer…

This booklet describes selected and diverse ideas and recommendations that were presented at a conference. Scholars from the disciplines of history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, literature, and education examined a number of practices and problems that are central to the provision of moral education and the development of good character.…

Teachers can and should use the insights of ethnographic research responsibly in their teaching. Ethnography is an attempt to understand cultures or parts of cultures from the point of view of those who participate in them. It is in the discontinuity between home and school uses of literacy that most ethnographers who study literacy locate the…