This paper discusses the use of peer debriefing to assist evaluators in their efforts to address project-end dilemmas and presents the implications of findings in this area for program evaluators and qualitative researchers. Peer debriefing has been defined as the process of exposing oneself to a disinterested peer to explore aspects of the…

Qualitative and quantitative social science research methods rather than representing opposing research methods instead are reinforcing research traditions. The ability of either research methodology to make lasting and important contributions requires the ability to synthesize and integrate with the other approach. While the assumptions of each…

The goal of this study was to describe the potential educational opportunities that lie in self-directed age-mixed interactions among children and adolescents. A qualitative analysis was used to generate ideas about goals and benefits of such interactions. The setting for the study was Sudbury Valley School (Massachusetts), a private school with…

Focusing on the teaching of comprehension strategies, this paper describes studies designed to identify settings in which effective strategies instruction was being carried out and details the conclusions that can be drawn from the studies. The paper begins with a description of comprehension strategies instruction in the 1970s and 1980s. The…

Qualitative research is research that attempts not only to understand the world, but also to understand it through the eyes of the participants whose world it is. Consequently, qualitative research must occur in a natural setting. The study begins, not with hypotheses to be proved or disproved, but with a flexible plan to explore a phenomenon.…

Research methods used in articles published in the "American Educational Research Journal" (AERJ), "Educational Researcher" (ER), and the "Review of Educational Research" (RER) were studied for the years 1978 to 1997. Articles were read to identify and categorize the research methods and statistical techniques used in…

The methodological issues associated with life-history research are explored from the perspectives of researcher and teacher of qualitative research methods, and from the perspective of a participant in a life-history study. The author illustrates with her own experiences how different research can look from both sides of the microphone and how…

Introduction: This paper proposes a model of information behaviour of women during their lifelong struggle to maintain normal weight. Method: The model is integrative and contextual, built on existing models in information science and several other disciplines, and the life stories of about fifty Israeli women aged 25-55 and interviews with…

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to deal with the information seeking and use problem in a professional context and understand how activity can influence practices, by taking as examples, the research undertaken by economic analysts. We analyse the relationship between the situational approach, described by Cheuk, the work environment…

This qualitative research study utilized the grounded theory tradition to examine organizational structures and processes in a purposefully selected sample of American universities that have established and maintained partnerships with industry. Institutional leaders from the corporate relations offices from fifteen of the top research…

Using a qualitative research methodology, known as the Delphi Method, an interactive panel of experts was convened to work toward a consensus on the role of critical thinking (CT) in educational assessment and instruction. In Delphi research, experts participate in several rounds of questions that require thoughtful and detailed responses.…

This report discusses the nature of research in the context of distance education and suggests that qualitative research be included as a research methodology for distance education research. Noting that qualitative research represents a shift toward more perceptual, context-embedded interpretive inquiry, the paper argues that it is well suited to…

Utilization of focus groups, commonly used in marketing research, as the first step of program needs assessment, is examined in this report. Focus groups are useful in generating new data that have not been constrained by a preconceived evaluation format. The goal of focus groups is not consensus building, but identification of a variety of needs.…

This chapter advocates the use of naturalistic inquiry as a method for undertaking unobtrusive research in instructional development. The advantages of naturalistic inquiry are listed, and it is suggested that these advantages make this form of research very useful to the field of instructional development. It is argued that both naturalistic…

Despite growing interest in the use of anthropological or cultural research models, these approaches are not commonly understood by the higher education community. Because anthropological research differs significantly from other techniques, this paper first explains the rationale for using anthropological models to study higher education and…