The activities of a research working group are described. The investigators from several institutions coordinate their work on space and geometry. Underlying assumptions of the group and issues faced by it are described. (SD)

It is argued that research settings should be chosen with the whole experimental design in mind and that the availability of appropriate controls (groups or occasions for observation) should be as important as the suitability of the treatment group. (Author/AM)

The intent of this paper is to demonstrate that the standard age effect in analysis of variance provides an ineffective means of assessing developmental change when several age levels are involved and a roughly monotonic trend can be expected. (Author)

States that educational researchers have very little knowledge that they know for certain. Provides an overview of the relationship between research and philosophy, addressing three questions: (1) What is real in education? (2) What can be known about educational reality? (3) What is the relationship between educational research and what we know…

Uses a case study to illustrate problems associated with historical reasoning. The problems highlighted are confusion over the difference between reason and cause, enthusiasm of the antiquarian, misguided search for "essence," misconceptions as to when to quantify, propagandistic tendencies, equating sensationalism with importance,…

Research on rape is handicapped by a paucity of accurate information on frequency of rape. The randomized response technique, designed to produce reliable information in surveys of sensitive issues, is advocated as a means of uncovering true frequencies. Findings are discussed in the context of results from traditional surveys. (Author/ABB)

Offers a reassessment of the feasibility, even given "ideal" conditions, of conducting relevant research on the dynamics that take place in self-help groups. Examines kinds of changes, group methods, group members, group leaders, and environmental conditions. (Author/ABB)

Discusses family influence on health care by addressing questions about appropriate selection of informants and data sources when investigating family and health concerns, questions about sample selection and the ability to generalize findings to the population as a whole, and questions concerning the subject's ability to differentiate between…

Assesses representations of women in television entertainment programs from a socialist feminist perspective. Elaborates on socialist feminist theory, presents concepts for an analysis of both class and gender oppression, and argues that most socialist feminist cultural studies do not address these categories adequately. Uses these concepts to…

Analyzes nine ethnographic educational evaluation studies and shows how the theories chosen resulted from a negotiation of values among three participant groups: evaluators, funders, and practitioners. The studies reveal that the funder-evaluator relationship can become explosive when value differences are pronounced. Therefore, the evaluator…

Two stage multiple-comparison procedures give an exact solution to problems of power and Type I errors, but require equal sample sizes in the first stage. This paper suggests a method of evaluating the experimentwise Type I error probability when the first stage has unequal sample sizes. (Author/BW)

Analysis of individual-level data from the 1970 Census confirms earlier findings, based on census tract data, about Hispanic and Black spatial assimilation in selected cities. Besides validating the theory of spatial assimilation, the results also indicate that errors resulting when individual-level inferences are made from ecological data are…

Introduces structural modeling with nonnormal continuous variables, using the equations language of the micro-mainframe program EQS in the context of a longitudinal study of adolescent development that followed about 700 adolescents across an 8-year span into young adulthood. Two models are developed to assess the influence of drug use on…

Considers problems which arise when researchers do not have the optimally large sample sizes desired in structural equation modeling. Discusses the ways in which small sample size affects assessment of model fit. Provides a new estimator that may be beneficial for use in small-sample situations. (Author/RH)

States that regardless of the content or level of a statistics course, five goals to reach are: (1) overcoming fears, resistances, and tendencies to memorize; (2) the importance of intellectual honesty and integrity; (3) understanding relationship between deductive and inductive inferences; (4) learning to play role of reasonable critic; and (5)…