Uses empirical data from an obtrusive study of reference performance to explore the content validity of and assumptions about unobtrusive studies. Changes needed to improve unobtrusive studies of reference services are discussed, including the development of test questions representing all types of queries and supplementing the correct fill rate…

Describes the increased acceptance of constructivism as a research paradigm in the social sciences and its applicability for interviewing in educational research. Notes major sources of this viewpoint and highlights a validity dilemma relative to the roles of interviewer and interviewee. Proposes the strategy of hierarchical focusing as a means to…

Beneficiary assessment (BAS) involves participant observation and intensive qualitative interviewing in the project communities by nationals trained to develop information specific to the needs of project management and World Bank staff. BAS provides information about community-based factors affecting social sector project success. BAS's use since…

The article identifies two data collection procedures (participant observation and interviewing) employed in qualitative research and discusses how these procedures can be used to investigate emerging issues in supported education for students with severe disabilities. (DB)

Eighty-nine children, aged 4-8, generalized a problem-solving strategy learned on one task to a different version of the task. Compared to average-Intelligence Quotient children, the high-Intelligence Quotient children learned more from their illegal moves and more frequently recognized similarities in the tasks' features. (Author/JDD)

Reviews development issues in Thailand and the response of nonformal education. Concentrates on the potential of qualitative evaluation in creating more responsive policies and programs. Draws on experiences with 43 Thai participants in an earlier workshop, "Evaluation in Nonformal Education in Thailand." (CH)

By not specifying what they will attend to, and by virtue of the relatively extended amount of time they devote to exploring their phenomena, qualitative inquirers have practically no limit to what they can uncover. This is illustrated through data on the role of ethnicity in an ethnically diverse high school. (Author/BJV)

Many ideas attributed to the whole-language approach are not new. Whole language demands that literacy instruction be indirect, unsystematic, and nonintensive and that scope-and-sequence charts be abandoned. Experimental research has judged the major tenets of whole language to be erroneous--a point accepted even by whole-language leaders favoring…

This article suggests that the choice by institutional researchers to use qualitative or quantitative research is often dictated by time, money, resources, and staff and not necessarily with an understanding of the underlying philosophical assumptions structuring beliefs about methodology, knowledge, and reality. These underlying assumptions are…

This paper reviews how sociocultural theory conceptualizes teaching and learning, fundamental constructs of the theory and methodology, and basic guidelines for discourse analysis. It applies these concepts to three research areas: the social construction of disability, contingent instruction between adults and learners, and miscommunication…

This article reviews the theoretical assumptions and methodological orientations of phenomenology and contrasts it with the logical positivist model used in the natural sciences. It applies these concepts to research in special education. (DB)

Explores the ongoing debate over quantitative versus qualitative research, arguing that qualitative research has evolved from a methodological approach into a social and political ideology. The current emphasis on narrative ways of sharing knowledge raises concerns about evaluation and hypothesis testing. (SLD)

Explores circumstances and themes in which American Indian female administrators perceive dissonance in their work environment. Problems of organization, morale, and role modeling behavior were revealed. Respondents indicated that certain aspects of their culture conflicted with the role of supervisor, that male supervisors saw females as clerical…

This article examines factors affecting the provision of mainstream family support services to parents with intellectual disability in Australia. Qualitative procedures resulted in identification of common issues and a conceptual matrix. The three key factors were: client characteristics, resources available, and the involvement of other agencies.…

Brings together viewpoints on the qualitative and quantitative research paradigms with regard to educational research in general and to literacy research in particular. Elucidates some of the persistent disputes in the research community. Discusses research traditions in literacy research. Considers the contexts in which new paradigms arise.…