Briefly reviews the current status of research on mentoring as a form of professional development for school leaders. Presents alternative definitions of mentoring and reviews several recent studies on administrator mentoring. Discusses limitations in research design, methodologies, and findings, and charts possible new research directions. (19…

School leaders must make good decisions about sex education based on valid information. This article presents 17 arguments most frequently advanced by groups opposing comprehensive sexuality education and examines the scientific literature to determine those arguments' validity. Topics include abstinence instruction, intimate sexual behavior…

Responds to an article written regarding the maturity of educational research. Contends that, to achieve a democratic research process, the local needs and conditions of the public (including teachers, students, parents, and the community) must be the driving force in deciding what to research. (ZWH)

Describes the quality of educational research, indicating that it is in a state of crisis because of a lack of both funding and professional consensus on fund allocation. Suggests that educational researchers reach a consensus regarding their minimum information requirements and seek to maximize the limited resources available. (MAB)

Examines issues related to the design and interpretation of high-risk depression research, including the identification of symptoms and syndromes, categorical versus dimensional scales, aspects of depression to be considered, specificity of effects, use of process measures, and conceptualization of risk and resilience. (MDM)

Discusses the implications of factors inhibiting the advancement of research in library and information science in Nigeria, such as poor dissemination of research findings, noncollaborative research with those in other fields, academic and professional ineptitude, inadequate funding, societal indifference to research, and inefficient use of…

"The Bell Curve" declares that studies of separated identical twins--the "purest" of "direct" methods for estimating IQ heritability--indicate a value of +.75-+.80. But, the main study cited suggests a heritability of "two-thirds" for the middle class, and Herrnstein and Murray neglect to mention numerous…

The goals of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are described, and procedural guidelines for each approach are summarized, emphasizing the use of factor analysis in developing and refining clinical measures. Recent examples of the use of factor analysis are reviewed and used to highlight controversies that can emerge. (SLD)

Methodological considerations in conducting research on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the most widely used clinical personality instrument, are reviewed, with reference to the original MMPI and the version for adolescents (MMPI-A). Potential pitfalls in personality testing and personality assessment research are…

Difficulties in defining and examining ethnicity as a variable in psychological research are explored, and it is asserted that many problems in assessment research arise from not making explicit the assumptions underlying the use of ethnicity as an exploratory variable and from inadequately describing cultural and contextual characteristics of…

This article discusses methodologic limitations of four observational study designs (ecologic, case-control, cross-sectional, and cohort) that dominate the child abuse and neglect literature and identifies key features of an "ideal" study of child maltreatment. It proposes a new mixed-design strategy, which improves ability to identify child…

This article examines the problem of definition in learning disabilities. It discusses the failure of conceptual definitions to provide a clear idea of what learning disabilities are, examines the true nature of available definitions as stipulative definitions, and notes the difficulty in conceptualizing and implementing operational definitions.…

It is argued that employment data provide a useful and flexible metric to assess social impact. Problems and advantages with the traditional use of population statistics and the use of employment data are discussed, and an example of the use of each is given. (SLD)

Notes that research on academic retention programs for at-risk minority college students suffers from variety of methodological shortcomings. Identifies several problems in context of published retention-program studies, followed by corresponding solutions framed within call for nontraditional, alternative methodological and statistical strategies…

Points out that variability in focus, method, and conceptual level of case studies causes difficulties in validating such studies. Notes method variations raise questions about validity. Claims the validity of case studies lies in their usefulness as projective models. States teachers can generate their own theories where practical educational…