The emphasis on the mechanics of research techniques has often overshadowed other aspects of evaluation research that are determiners of research quality. Many problems encountered by program evaluators are not solvable by the information provided in research texts. Some of the practical problems encountered and dealt with during an experimental…

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. Addressing the problems of studying change and the change process, the report argues that sociologists should study coupled changes in qualitative and quantitative outcomes (e.g., marital status and earnings). The author presents a model for sociological studies of change in…

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. The chapter examines the merits of four estimators in the causal analysis of event-histories (data giving the number, timing, and sequence of changes in a categorical dependent variable). The four procedures are ordinary least squares, Kaplan-Meier least squares, maximum…

One of a series of sixteen knowledge transformation papers, this paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of longitudinal studies as a method for evaluating vocational programs. First, longitudinal methods are defined for the differences between them and cross-sectional studies are established. The results of a literature search conducted…

In this essay, inquiry concerning school organizations is likened to a hunt and some "hunting stories" are told. The stories deal with two areas of inquiry related to pupil control. One area is concerned with the instruments that serve as operational definitions or measures in the author's pupil control research. The other was concerned with a…

THESE CONFERENCE PAPERS, CONCERNING RESEARCH IN HIGHER EDUCATION, DISCUSS THE CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, THE COLLEGE RESEARCH CENTER, SENSIBLE ADMISSIONS PROCEDURES, CRITERIA PROBLEMS IN ADMISSIONS RESEARCH, STUDENT ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT FACTORS, SOCIAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL POLICY, AND FEDERAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS.…

This booklet reports a conference concerning Canadian university problems, roles and priorities attended by leading Canadian, US and British administrators and faculty. Each of 6 presentations is followed by 2 or 3 critiques. The purposes of the conference were to assess the state of higher education in Canada and to identify the areas that…

Comparison is made between the techniques of research used in the physical sciences and those used in educational research, and the relative weakness of the reproducibility of educational research findings is noted. It is pointed out that while monitoring and feedback are essential in any research endeavor, they present difficulty in educational…

In this manual, both methodological and practical guidelines for conducting field research in urban desegregated schools are discussed. Strategies for negotiating access to and studying all participants in the educational system (students, teachers, administrators, other personnel, and parents) are suggested. Fieldwork styles, philosophies, and…

A method of examining individual variation in responses to Inhelder-Piaget formal reasoning tasks is proposed as a means of identifying cognitive style components of formal reason and as a means of generating more complete descriptions of observable manifestations of formal reasoning. The method is one used by human ethologists and consists of…

Twelve papers are contained in this report. Robert M. Ranftl reports on the findings of a study to identify useful techniques for optimizing productivity. John S. Packard contrasts the spirit of inquiry and the norm of productivity, and makes recommendations for the composition of a research team. David L. Williams describes procedures to ensure…

An evaluation was made of the methodology and findings presented in "Television and Antisocial Behavior. Field Experiments," by Stanley Milgram and R. Lance Shotland (New York: Academic Press, 1973). In the book, seven experiments were reported, all concerned with antisocial behavior toward a medical charity. Three episodes of Medical…

The degree to which the chosen units of analysis are likely to produce spurious findings in staged combinations of multiple linear regression procedures are examined. The effects of grouping variables (e.g., classroom, school, and school district) on Procedures such as Coleman's semipartial regression and Mayeske's commonalities, in light of…

The purpose of this paper is to summarize and evaluate experiments which examined the effects of teacher questions on student achievement. The studies reviewed are of two types: (a) training experiments, in which the independent variable is teacher training; and (b) skills experiments, in which the frequency and manner of use of a teaching skill…

The failure of development to improve the quality of life in most third world countries and in the less advantaged sectors of advanced capitalistic countries can be partially attributed, it is felt, to methodological errors made by those studying development. Some recent sociological approaches to the study of development are reviewed in this…