Interview data exemplify students' attempts to integrate the concepts of electrochemistry with related knowledge that they had previously constructed or acquired in other classes. The implications for minimizing potential misconceptions center on the difficulties students experience when using more than one model for explaining scientific…

Discusses children's ideas about colored objects and colored shadows, with special attention to the organization of these ideas into mental models. The clarification of these models provides instructional tools that serve to assess and confront students' naive conceptions. Subjects were visitors to a science museum who engaged in interactive…

Interviewed 14 psychotherapy clients about their recollections of therapy session. Major category derived from grounded theory analysis of interviews was client's deference to therapist (concern about therapist's approach, fear of criticizing therapist, understanding therapist's frame of reference, meeting perceived expectations of therapist,…

Outlines methodology employed during six-month period to integrate quantitative and qualitative research results. The project, involving mainstreamed learning-disabled students' problems with homework assignments, was designed to study educational issues through use of directed focus groups in which groups discuss specific topic in detail.…

Presents an interim report on a study of 26 secondary school students' ability to seek, find, and use information to produce science-related video documentaries. Topics discussed include barriers to learning and the impact of prior learning, other life skills, production, and the subject matter itself on learning. (KRN)

Examines the basic tenets of qualitative, or naturalistic, research methods in terms of their grounding in social science and their value to library and information science research. Topics discussed include the research problems; data collection, including interviews; data analysis, including content analysis; theory development; and ensuring…

Examines the strengths and weaknesses of interpretive and quantitative research methods in comparative developmental research. Cites three recent studies of the Yupno, Fiji, and Mayan peoples to show how the interpretive approach contributes to the understanding of the meaning of behavior in context whereas the quantitative approach contributes a…

Presents a qualitative study of an Amish elementary school where classroom management and teaching methods prepare children to cope with their everyday lifestyle. Religious values are reinforced with reading lessons and Bible study. The article concludes with a brief description of Amish culture and lifestyle. (SM)

Rather than rehash the scholarly debate about appropriate inquiry modes, this article presents an alternative philosophical framework (based on the American Indian medicine wheel) through which to view the quantitative-qualitative issue. The article also discusses practical considerations of the debate and examines implications for research,…

Explores how qualitative and feminist inquiry are reconfiguring educational research, focusing on methodological issues involved in moving it into the postpositivist era. The article examines contributions of the transdisciplinary movements of feminism and poststructuralism in the development of critical frames in educational research. (SM)

This collection of diverse conference papers discusses work in the traditions of factor analysis, ordinal psychometrics, structural equations, and some special purpose models for the analysis of change. It is a useful source, but does little to link the psychometric framework to general developments in statistics and other disciplines. (SLD)

Contends that qualitative research in geography can be conducted within the constraints of a research methods course. Provides suggestions for using qualitative research fieldwork in a college course. Includes student reactions to the course and constraints on broader use of this methodology. (CFR)

This article discusses qualitative (or interpretivist) research as both a set of methods and a worldview about the nature of knowledge and inquiry. It emphasizes that special education researchers need to discover "who they are as researchers" early in their careers, and comments on what it means to become initially competent and increasingly…

Describes how the collection, analysis, and reporting of qualitative data from a research project examining the implementation of microcomputers in classrooms was facilitated by using a microcomputer. The use of hypertext to create a unified relational database is described, and implications of hypermedia for qualitative research are suggested.…

Examines benefits of three models for evaluating outdoor adventure programs: program monitoring with debriefings and check-offs; experimental evaluation; and qualitative, naturalistic observation. Illustrates and compares approaches using California 4-H adventure ropes course. Examines data's specificity, assumptions, ambiguities, and followup.…